Nidaime no Sairin
by Narutoenthusiast
Summary: Naruto always enjoyed discovering new places and locations in Konohagakure. One night, after entering a cave, he decides to venture inside only to find the most beautiful waterfall he had ever seen. Once inside the cave, Naruto finds a lone rock that contained black markings. Thinking nothing of it, Naruto touches the black marking. What happens then no one could ever predict.HIATU
1. Discovery

**Name**: Nidaime no Sairin

Naruto x Senju Tobirama (not Yaoi)

Pairing unknown

Action/Adventure

**Summary**: Uzumaki Naruto always enjoyed discovering new places and locations in Konohagakure. One night, after entering a cave, he decides to venture inside only to find the most beautiful waterfall he had ever seen. Once inside the cave, Naruto finds a lone rock that contained black markings. Thinking nothing of it, Naruto touches the black marking. What happens then no one could ever predict. Romantic pairings are still undecided.

* * *

_**Chapter 1 – Discovery**_

_**Beta: Kyuubi123**_

* * *

It was a bright sunny day in Konohagakure, and one Uzumaki Naruto, aka Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, now nine years old, was abusing his tiny legs running throughout the main pathways that crossed the village.

He ignored the dirty looks he received along the way, getting used to them a long time ago. As long as he could remember, the majority of the villagers looked at him like that. He figured that his pranks were the issue. A bright smile could be seen on his face, though, as he had just came back from visiting a beautiful waterfall he had found near one of the training grounds. The mental picture was engraved in his head as he entered the Hokage's Administrative Building. Naruto ignored everyone inside the building as he ran past the hallways. He almost bumped himself against a man with silver hair that defied gravity, but managed to evade him, while running. The jounin in person looked at Naruto's back before smiling and walking away.

Ever since he was seven years old, Uzumaki Naruto always enjoyed exploring the various sights of the hidden village in the leaves.

The Sandaime Hokage shared with him once that a long time ago, before the village foundation; the entire area was a large forest, filled with caves and waterfalls. Every new sight Naruto discovered he would then talk to the Sandaime about it in lively detail. The boy could feel the warmth of the old man's smile when the boy talked about the many sights in Konohagakure. The boy ignored the protest coming from the Hokage's secretary as he immediately barged inside the village leader's office, alerting the Anbu staff that protected the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, merely smiled at the energetic boy, already used to his antics, especially when the boy wanted to tell him about a new sight he discovered in Konohagakure. Despite it all, he needed to scold the boy a bit for barging inside.

"Naruto-kun, how many times have I told you not to come in like this?"

"Sorry jiji, it's just that I managed to find another waterfall today and it's even more awesome than the last one." Hiruzen smirked as he looked at how happy the lad was.

When Hiruzen took him away from the orphanage, he was worried about his state of mind. It was his hope that Naruto would have a normal childhood or as normal as it can be, considering everything. Despite the fact that Naruto had no friends whatsoever, Hiruzen was glad that the boy had found such interest to occupy his mind. In addition, the usual pranks severally diminished, so the paperwork diminished. He heard the boy describing the location and smiled even more at the words described by Naruto to describe this new location. It was quite amusing to see a nine-year old trying, but failing, to use big words. After the kid finished explaining, Hiruzen smiled warmly at Naruto.

"That's indeed quite a beautiful scenery Naruto-kun." The kid's face brightened at Hiruzen's answer. "However, I do remember you're supposed to be at the academy right now."

Just like Hiruzen expected and fought every urge not to laugh aloud, Naruto's exuberant face turned immediately into a deep scowl.

"But jiji, it's so boring there…all we ever do is listen to Iruka-sensei's boring lectures." Hiruzen released a sigh at the comment he heard time and time again. The boy just could not settle down and focus.

Right then, Hiruzen had decided to approach this manner more thorough.

Perhaps, he could reach to Naruto using his hobbies and his dream of becoming a strong shinobi in the future.

"Naruto-kun, if you aim to be Hokage one day like you want to be, acquiring knowledge at the academy is crucial for an aspiring Hokage." Hiruzen smiled as the boy paid attention to his words, he always did. "The most important knowledge is provided by the Academy. Once you master the basics, it is much easier to improve your skills and abilities, which will only help you in the future. Trust me on this Naruto-kun, it may be _boring _as you say, but if you work hard enough, you will have a very important edge. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Naruto nodded, but he felt like he was receiving a reprimand from the kind old man to whom he respected dearly. Hiruzen caught on the downtrodden face and gently lifted Naruto's head to maintain eye contact. "There is no need to be sad, Naruto-kun…all I want is for you to apply yourself harder at the Academy…trust me…it will only benefit you in the future."

Naruto nodded once more, now with a relieved smile on his face.

"I will try jiji, believe me. Just you wait. I will be the best student at the academy and I'll make you proud." The grandfather figure smiled dearly, caressing the kid's hair gently.

"You already make me proud Naruto-kun…now go on then. And, don't worry about Iruka-sensei. I will explain to him that you had a small fever and could not attend today. Go home and think about what we just talked about." Naruto energetically straightened up and nodded resolutely, before running back towards the door. Hiruzen watched Naruto leave and wondered if the boy truly paid attention to his small lecture about the Academy. The boy inherited his mother's energetic behavior, no doubt but Naruto was also son of the Yondaime Hokage. Hiruzen mused that bright yellow hair and blue eyes were not the only inheritance he received from his father.

* * *

_**===With Naruto===**_

* * *

No sooner had the boy left the Hokage's Office; then he marched straight to a training ground he knew no one ever used. It was close to his apartment building, so he could see the training ground from his window. The kid always wanted to see awesome techniques, but he never got to, as no one used this location. Taking into account the stuff he saw at the academy, Naruto devised a small training regimen. Like Iruka-sensei instructed before starting physical exercises, stretching the muscles was important. That being said, he did the routine he performed at the academy with a couple of laps around the training ground followed by some sit-ups and push-ups.

With that done, Naruto performed the set of Katas he was taught at the academy. The training grounds had no targets to practice on, so he settled for the trees instead.

The first ones hurt like hell, but Naruto pushed through the pain, thinking about what the Hokage said to him earlier today. For some reason he could not identity, every time he performed it at the academy, people would point at him and laugh at his expense. He tried asking what the funny part was, only to receive more mocking laughter in return. The teachers would simply brush his questions off telling him to repeat the positions more and more. Like he was told before, he repeated the exercise, pounding on the thick tree, while trying to ignore the bleeding knuckles in his hands. When the pain became too unbearable, he stopped and took a seat on the ground for a moment. He figured that it was enough taijutsu training for the moment and started some chakra control exercises. He remembered that Iruka-sensei always told him to practice this exercise, as it would help his ninjutsu in the future.

Naruto grabbed a lone leaf and placed it on his forehead. To the regular person in training, this exercise required very little effort, since most children have very little chakra to use. Naruto was the opposite, hence why drops of sweat began to pour from his face as he struggled to keep the leaf attached to his forehead. Of course, Naruto's difficulty was unfamiliar to the lad, as nobody ever stopped to inform him about it. All everyone said to him was that he was doing it wrong, but nobody bothered to explain what he was doing wrong. As it always happened, he was not able to hold it for long. The three regular ninjutsu practice wasn't much different from the chakra control exercise as the techniques required very little chakra to perform. The _Kawarimi_ and _Henge_ were no picnic, but Naruto managed to perform it eventually. The Bunshin, however, still eluded him as the results were always the same.

Naruto sighed in dismay as he saw the dead looking clone in front of him.

The same experience occurred throughout the day as he tried repeatedly, but with the same result. Eventually, even his chakra reserves were not enough and he collapsed in the middle of the training ground.

* * *

_**===Three hours later===**_

* * *

When he opened his eyes once more, it was already nighttime. The boy let out a curse at his stupidity as he quickly got up and looked around. Remembering the training, if that could be considered as such, Naruto sighed once more. Contrary to what he believed when he decided to train, Naruto did not feel like he progressed. His movements were the same as he performed at the academy. If Mizuki-sensei were here, he would say the same thing to him. Kicking a stone in frustration, he marched towards his apartment with a pout. As he walked, however, a noise reached his ears, which was strange, considering that he had not heard it when he was training. He stopped abruptly looking around the direction of the sound. The noise was similar to the waterfalls Naruto enjoyed searching throughout the village.

However, it was strange. He did not know of any waterfalls close to his house. Deciding on a specific direction, Naruto walked a bit, realizing that the sound got louder.

He passed through his apartment building and entered the forest behind it. Ten minutes of walking inside the forest later, he could see a small entrance to a cave. A smile appeared as he had found yet another. Quickly entering the barely illuminated cave, the boy walked through the narrow pathway. The noise reverberated throughout the passageway. When the walkway ended, Naruto's eyes immediately lost their usual focus as he could not describe it. The area around the waterfall wasn't much to be considered. The water, however, was what caught Naruto's attention. Of course, it was blue just like the others, but Naruto could see directly behind the water. Looking at the lake, Naruto was also shocked to see the bottom without much difficulty. It was a mesmerizing vision as he became hypnotized by the deep azure color. Deciding to spelunk, Naruto looked around the waterfall, but saw nothing in particular aside from the crystalline blue waterfall.

As he was about to leave the place, through the same passageway, Naruto's eyes locked on something that did not belong to the scenery.

Near the lake margin, one rock was slightly taller than the others were and the boy could see some sort of dark mark engraved on the stone. The cave lacked sufficient light, so he could not see what it was. When he caressed the marking however, Naruto became startled as a ledge seemed to open right where he stood. His screams of fear echoed throughout the cave, but no one was around to hear and once more, Uzumaki Naruto passed out, this time because of a slight head bump.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was that he was no longer inside the cave he was spelunking before. This place had the same wall structure, but this time he could see little torches illuminating it. Naruto could see the same black markings he saw earlier, but instead of a big one, he now saw multiple markings, sprawled all over the room. When Naruto looked behind him, however, he screamed in fright as he realized he was not alone in this place.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked trembling as he looked at the man, trying to recognize him. He was tall, fair-skinned with white shaggy hair. The man's outfit consisted of dark blue armor and he wore a different forehead protector bearing the symbol of Konohagakure. His face looked menacing enough and Naruto felt like the man was looking at his very soul. However, something about his face was familiar to the young Uzumaki. The man in question frowned at the strange boy's question and crossed his arms in irritation.

"I'd like to ask you the same question boy and how did you find this place?" His voice also made Naruto tremble in fear and he felt compelled to answer the man.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." The boy gulped as he saw the man frowning, but answered the second question. "I was exploring a cave when I accidentally opened a ledge and fell. When I woke up, I was here." The man in question stayed silent as he observed the kid for a while. He could not find any chakra fluctuations, meaning that he was telling the truth. In addition, he could tell that it was the kid's chakra that touched the seal array he had left on the top floor. With that out of the way, the strange man immediately lowered his killing intent, allowing Naruto to breathe normally once more. Naruto, for his turn, looked at the man and wondered what was going on here. This man was very familiar to him, but he could not remember. Suddenly, though, the image clicked as he remembered seeing the stranger's face a lot. Actually, he saw his face every day. The thought of terror once more invaded his senses as he pointed at the stranger with trembling hands.

"Are you a ghost?" There was simply no way the Nidaime Hokage would appear before him. The man had died a long time ago…like fifty years ago.

"That's a rather rude question, boy. But to answer all of your questions, my name is Senju Tobirama, known as the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure." The Nidaime was about to continue, but Naruto interrupted.

"How can you be here talking to me? You're dead!" Naruto screamed, before covering his mouth frightened as he saw the look once more.

"You'd well not to interrupt me again boy…I don't enjoy repeating myself." Naruto gulped in fear, but nodded. "As I was saying, my name is Senju Tobirama, but the one before you is a mere fragment of the original. Foreseeing my inevitable death at the Second Great Ninja War, I decided to seal a part of my essence here so that I can be of use to Konohagakure in the future. It was my hope that either one of my students would find this place, so that I could bestow upon them my legacy. I even chosen this very place as I used to gather with them here." Tobirama stated, before looking at the kid before him. He said his name was Uzumaki Naruto and Tobirama indeed verified it through his sensory abilities. However, there was another chakra that the Nidaime felt and he remembered it as belonging to another person, that being his sister-in-law, Hashirama's wife. Tobirama's mind worked fast in estimating that a long time has passed since his death.

Naruto heard the man's explanation, but understood very little. His face was proof enough as he struggled to make sense of everything.

"Are you a ghost or not?" Tobirama stared at the boy in deep irritation at his stupidity. He was clear before.

"No, I'm not a ghost boy. Now tell me just how many years have passed since my death?" Naruto still was not convinced, but answered nonetheless.

"I don't know…about fifty years…give or take…I was never good at history." Come to think about it, he was not good at other subjects as well. Nidaime, however, simply acknowledged the information with a grunt, already processing his choices. Naruto saw the man place two fingers on the ground, before closing his eyes. Immediately after doing so, one Senju Tobirama was bombarded by information he processed using his chakra sensing technique. Extending his senses, he frowned, as he could not sense any Senju presence in Konoha. He was able to sense many Uchiha, which made him frown even more, from sheer disgust at that accursed clan. He could not sense one of his students Uchiha Kagami, but he sensed a familiar presence in another Uchiha, perhaps his student's offspring. A fond smile appeared on his face as he recognized Hiruzen's presence, though it is much weaker now. Saru must be close to seventy now if what the kid said was true. He could not find traces of Shimura Danzou at first, so he extended its reach a little. When he found it, Tobirama realized once more that he had chosen his successor wisely.

He could feel Danzou's chakra; however, there were also traces of Uchiha and even his older brother. T

Tobirama always felt pride knowing that he was able to raise his students to become fine shinobi. Naruto felt the temperature in the room drop as he looked at Tobirama. Naruto had never felt so scared in his life. The Nidaime Hokage looked pissed at something and he was afraid that it was he the cause of it. Perhaps today was the day he died, after all. Taking a step back in fright, Naruto's foot moved a small stone, causing the Nidaime to look at him right away with those menacing eyes. The pressure was still unbearable. Like before, however, the second hokage stopped to look at the child more thoroughly. The intention behind sealing a part of his essence was for the Nidaime to give his legacy to either one of his students. However, neither one of them were adequate right now. However, the boy in front of him…Tobirama always had the ability to find potential candidates.

This boy's chakra capacity was on pair with his own when he was a child and it would only grow with time, even with the aid of the fox that was now inside of him.

Naruto, in the meantime, wondered if he was seeing things. Perhaps the wound caused by the fall damaged his brains and now he was hallucinating. He was talking to the Nidaime Hokage for Kami's sake.

"Tell me boy…" Naruto looked up abruptly, swallowing nervously. Hallucination or not, the Nidaime's stare was quite fearsome. "The very reason I am here in the first place is to pass on my knowledge so that Konoha can use it for its benefit. I had hoped that either one of my students would find this place, but they did not. You were the one who found this place and as such, I have decided to grant you my legacy, all the knowledge I collected throughout my time shall be yours." Naruto's eyes widened at the prospect of learning from this man, but he immediately slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Wait a minute…how could you be real? I don't understand….one minute I fell and hit my head…the next I'm seating in some sort of cave talking to a man that was killed fifty years ago. Am I going crazy here?"

Nidaime saw the boy pulling his hair frantically. Indeed, to a boy with no knowledge of the intricacies of fuuinjutsu, his sudden appearance like this was incredibly suspicious.

At least, the kid had bothered to check Tobirama's facts before accepting everything at face value.

"My presence here was already explained to you. In addition, the mind can only produce certain scenarios that you've already been through before. It is simply impossible for your mind to create all this, even everything I just told you." Naruto blinked a couple times in confusion at the explanation, before his face morphed into sudden clarification. Tobirama saw it and could not help but show a smirk in amusement. The naivety of a child, he mused. "Now, since we clarified that you're not hallucinating, I need you to tell me everything about your life, the skills you already possess and your weaknesses. In order for me to tutor you to the best of my abilities, I need to understand everything about you and I ask you not to lie to me or alter the facts. I will know when that happens and will deal with it accordingly." Once more, Naruto flinched at the sudden spike in killing intent. The man asked him about his life as well as other things. With a sigh, the boy took a seat and began his rather short tale.

Throughout the story, the only movement that Naruto could spot was Tobirama's eyebrow. They either frowned or lifted slightly, which the boy assumed, indicated anger and surprise.

Tobirama, for his part, began to look at the kid in a new light, while hearing Naruto's story. Surprisingly so, Naruto's story was not as colorful as Tobirama would expect from a child, a child born in Konoha no less. His brother always envisioned a place where children could be nothing but children. Naruto, on the other hand, hadn't had a nice life growing up. He did not know why people looked at him with disdain, but Tobirama had a distinctive guess as he remembered how his sister-in-law was treated when she came to Konoha. People respected her because she became the Shodaime's wife, but everyone looked at her with extreme caution and even fear at her back, assuming that the beast could come out and attack them. Naruto's treatment appeared to be even worse as people openly mistreated the boy. When he heard that Hiruzen could not help him all the time, Tobirama frowned. His successor would not stand for these things and would solve the issue in the blink of an eye. Perhaps, Hiruzen's old age had caught up to him.

"Well, that's it about my life so far. About my skills, I'm at the academy, but I can't say I have much skill to tell you about." The Nidaime raised his eyebrow once more. "My chakra control sucks, I can't seem to perform the academy style taijutsu, I can't throw a shuriken or kunai like i should, don't get me started on genjutsu and I can't even perform the regular three ninjutsu required of me. At least, that's what my teachers say to me. But they are all a bunch of jerks. They all say that I'm doing it wrong, but neither one bothered to tell me what I'm doing wrong!" Despite the rather foul language, Nidaime nodded, reaching that conclusion before Naruto told him. If the entire village treated him with disdain, the academy teachers would not be any different. Once more, Tobirama wondered if Hiruzen was on the verge of dying from old age.

"I see…"

Naruto looked at the man while taking some time to recover his breath. He did not know why, but in between his explanation, he started shouting in indignation. Perhaps it was because the person in front of him was the first that actually bothered to listen to him, instead of making wrong assumptions. Tobirama, for his turn, decided not to dwell on the kid's story much. Also, Hiruzen must have his reasons for not telling about the fox. For now, Tobirama would keep that secret.

"Since our goal here is to focus entirely on your skills as a shinobi, I will provide you with answers that your teachers failed to provide." Naruto frowned but said nothing. At least, he would give him one answer. "The majority of the problems you are facing at the academy is due your larger than average chakra capacity. Memorize this…the more chakra you have, the harder it will be to control it. Genjutsu, the art of illusion, requires good control over your chakra. One with no sense of chakra control just cannot perform low ranked ninjutsu. I shall aid you in correcting this as well as teaching you taijutsu and shurikenjutsu. With my aid, I can guarantee to correct all these in less than three months. Throughout this period, we can cover important topics for a shinobi, like strategy, infiltration and stealth. After the three months, I shall begin to teach you all of my techniques…one by one." Naruto looked at the man with wide eyes at such prospect.

"You really believe I can do it…sensei?" Tobirama smirked at the term of respect.

"One aspect you'll learn from me is that I don't bother saying anything aside from the pure and logical truth. I would not bother saying so if I believed otherwise." Naruto smiled and nodded in appreciation.

"Ok when do we start?" Tobirama smirked at the eagerness, but he had to deal with one important issue first.

"Tomorrow, after the academy, you will come here and we shall begin. However, before you leave, we must take care of something first. When I created the seal, I had stored enough chakra to last this conversation. My extension in this place requires a steady supply of chakra, and I do not have said luxury." Naruto blinked once more in confusion and the Nidaime began to understand that perhaps it was best if he used smaller words to explain things. At least for now he would adhere to it, but when they began to cover advanced knowledge, Naruto's vocabulary would have to improve drastically. "In simpler terms, I need you to give me some of your chakra every day to sustain me."

"Ah, you could have said that from the beginning, sensei. But how can I train without my chakra?" Nidaime nodded in the negative at the question, as absurd as it was.

"I do not require all of your chakra. Depending on the level of your training, I shall increase the amount, but nothing too extreme." Naruto nodded once more with a smile on his face.

He would make the old man proud and he would do so by training with the Nidaime Hokage.

* * *

_===**Author Note===**_

* * *

Ok, here is the first chapter of my new story.

If anyone is interested about how the Nidaime appeared before Naruto, when the Nidaime Hokage faced Kumo, he created a shadow clone to perform the essence sealing in secret. It's the same technique that Minato used on Naruto to appear inside his consciousness. About the story, the events will not suffer much change. I'm still stuck on a couple of basic choices like Naruto's genin team and his jounin-sensei. I can tell right now that his affinity will be both wind and water.

I am open to as many ideas as possible, so feel free to provide them.


	2. A strict coach

Hi there and welcome to another chapter.

Amazingly, the first chapter had reached the 100 reviews barrier. That never happened before and I appreciate it. It means that people enjoyed my idea. I have received many ideas for me to use, hence why I will answer some right now.

_Sasunaru for life – Naruto on a team with Shikamaru and Hinata was already used in a story called 'True Potential'. Very good story by the way._

_Spark681 – I thought about that, but then decided against it. Naruto's training will be a secret from everyone forever. It does not mean that the Sandaime Hokage won't be suspicious as hell. _

_Jasonr7 – The pairing is still undecided. _

_Tastybigsexy – The teams will be different. That is all I can say for now._

_Silver Reflexes – Pairings are still undecided. Yuugao could help him true, because Nidaime always fancied a sword. About his affinities, his primary affinity will be wind. Water is second, but not far behind. _

_Elder Sibiling – the teams will be different of course. His personality will of course change as well, but I will stop here. _

_Narutofan8762 – Yes, Tobirama will only be until the academy and Naruto will not be graduating early. Naruto will receive training for three years total. That is a lot of time, but guess what…it can be multiplied if you know what I mean. _

_Cerulean Knight – A ninjato will suffice I believe. I intend for him to confront Aoi on a personal level. _

_Dbtiger63 – Sure, his personality will change over time. The rest of your questions will be supplied throughout the chapters._

_Theronjohn325 – No, he will have strong wind and water affinities, but he will not have hyoton._

_Raggon – Actually I used wind and water affinities in my first story 'Tired'. In my other stories, he has other affinities. _

Now, let us begin with the second chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 2 – A strict coach**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

When Naruto awakened the next day, he first believed that the events of last night were nothing but a dream. He had every reason to considering that he just had a conversation with a man that should be dead for fifty years now. Still, the conversation was fresh in his mind, especially the part when the supposed Nidaime Hokage told me about his high chakra capacity and that because of it; he could not perform most of the techniques that were taught at the Academy. That fact alone made Naruto hope that what happened yesterday was not just a dream. If it were, then he would be greatly disappointed. His day started like usual, with a ramen breakfast. He got dressed quickly, without much concern for hygiene routines.

The academy was the usual with Iruka-sensei focusing on lectures and Naruto doing everything wrong.

The teacher did look at the boy with pity, but did not correct him otherwise.

The boy thought about talking about his chakra problem with Iruka, but he thought otherwise. Naruto did not have anything against Iruka, but for some reason, he did not trust the man to keep what they talked about a secret. Hell, Naruto would not be able to explain just how he came up with his high chakra capacity problem. The thought itself became humorous. Telling Iruka about his meeting with the Nidaime would only inspire the man to believe that Naruto was making things up.

Thus, he endured throughout the academy time. The minute the bell rang, he left as quickly as he could.

In no time, the exuberant kid reached the place where he remembered from last time. His smile grown even more at the noise of the waterfall inside the cave. As soon as he entered the room with the waterfall, however, Naruto was surprised to see the Nidaime Hokage sitting on top of the small lagoon. The man had his eyes closed the entire time. Naruto smiled upon realizing that what happened yesterday was not a dream. He was about to run and scream to the former Hokage, when the man opened his eyes and looked directly at the boy. Just the look alone was enough for Naruto to shiver on the spot. Nidaime Hokage got up from the lagoon and walked towards his apprentice.

"Now that you're here, we shall begin." Naruto meekly nodded as he watched the man approach with dread. "As you explained to me, yesterday, you need tutoring in multiple fields: Chakra control, shurikenjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu." Naruto lowered his head in shame at the list of his flaws, but nodded regardless. Nidaime frowned at the sight, however. "Pity is a word I don't particular enjoy. It is an emotion that will only hinder you in the future, be it pity at others and even self-pity. You said to me yesterday that no one ever bothered to tutor you properly, so the reason you have yet to grasp the basics is due to a gap in your teaching." Naruto blinked repeatedly, trying to grasp what the man was talking about. His confusion was evident on his face. Nidaime released a sigh once more. This kid needed a dictionary fast. "In simple terms, you suck because no one bothered to teach you."

"Oh…yeah…hey you could have started with that sensei." Naruto showed a pouting face typical of a child to which Nidaime ignored.

"I was not kidding when I said yesterday I would take us three months to cover everything. Now, time is of the essence here, so let us get started. First, can you explain to me what chakra is?"

"Oh…chakra is what we use for ninjutsu, right?" Nidaime stood there waiting for more, but frowned when the boy stopped talking. Ok, then, from the beginning…

"You're partially right, but that's not what I asked. Chakra is essential to even the most basic technique; it consists of mixing physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from the mind. Do not worry about memorizing this, as we will be covering throughout your training." Naruto nodded with a relieved sigh. The man sounded just like Iruka-sensei and frankly, he was starting to dose off. "It is important that you understand this in a practical sense, not just the theory. Ninjutsu requires more physical energy and less spiritual energy while genjutsu requires more spiritual energy than physical energy. We will now focus a large amount of time in your chakra control." Nidaime ignored a slight protest from the boy and continued. "There are many suitable exercises to increase your chakra control, the easiest being the leaf balancing exercise. In your case, it would be next to impossible, considering your large chakra capacity.

"So that's why I burned the damn leaf every damn time. Stupid Iruka-sensei for not telling me this."

"Precisely for this reason, we shall begin with a more chakra intensive exercise, in my opinion, right up your alley. It's called tree climbing." Nidaime calmly walked towards the cave walls and placed one foot on the wall and then the other. Naruto's mouth started drooling as the man calmly walked up the wall as if he was walking on the ground. "To perform this exercise, you need to focus chakra on the soles of your feet using the ram sign and then start climbing. If the stream of chakra is too weak, you will lose your footing and fall. If it is too strong, then, you will be pushed from the wall and fall as well. By my estimate, it shall take you one week to master this exercise, but when you do, ninjutsu and other chakra-oriented techniques will be much easier. Now get to it…" Nidaime saw Naruto forming the hand sign and then the blue aura around his feet. He already realized that it was too much, but he continued to watch the boy try to perform the exercise.

As he expected, the brat took a couple steps before the area, which his foot stepped on, exploded upon contact. Naruto fell inside the lagoon with a splash.

"You used too much chakra. Try again…" The second time it was too weak and Naruto instead slipped and fell once more, cursing the man for falling once more. Naruto attempted the exercise for two whole hours but to no avail. The most he got was ten steps up, before he slipped. "Let us move on to another branch of shinobi arts. Try the tree climbing exercise every chance you get, even inside your house. Now, let us start with shurikenjutsu." Now Naruto's interest was peaked. "Grab a couple and throw them at me." Naruto grabbed his whole lot of shuriken, before realizing what the man asked him to do.

"But what if I hurt you sensei? Isn't there a target I can use?" The absurd question rang in his ear and a vein popped on his forehead.

"Kid, if you managed to hit me, then I would not have lived for long as I did. Now stop wasting time and do as I say."

Nidaime stood there with his arms crossed as Naruto aimed the projectile and threw them. It was four total, none came even close to be considered a threat to a genin level shinobi. Nidaime could only imagine what his older brother would think upon seeing the damage that the teachers did to this kid. Naruto would be lucky if he even managed to graduate without the Nidaime's assistance. Taking that out of his mind, Tobirama analyzed Naruto's every move in order to pinpoint exactly what he was doing wrong. Naruto appeared to be using the right hand, but he noticed that the wrist movement was too stiff. Normally, this mistake would be corrected immediately, but Tobirama stopped wondering about that. It was obvious at this point that Naruto had been deliberately denied proper training. Calmly, Tobirama stood next to Naruto as he taught the proper way to throw the projectile. The second time, the kid showed more proficiency, but was still not close enough to be considered a threat.

"Practice until your wrist hurts."

Before, Naruto would wine like a kid, because he would always miss. Now, however, it was different. He now knew what was wrong and he practiced hard.

Tobirama saw the kid throwing his shuriken time after time with a frown. He could see that the kid had talent; all it took was one single tip. He figured that by the end of today, Naruto would manage to aim the shuriken straight at him. However, today's target was for them to cover every field so that Tobirama could explain what he wanted of Naruto. Even if the kid managed to hit the target, he would still practice until bloody perfection. It was this way Tobirama used to train Hiruzen and the others and look at the results. Two hours later, Naruto flinched in pain, after the throw, showing the end of the exercise for today. One thing Naruto did not mention was his ability concerning hand signs. It was imperative for the boy to perform the hand signs sequence perfectly, or else the technique is flawed.

"Naruto, do you know all the twelve hand signs?" The boy looked up at the question and then fidgeted with his hand a bit, showing discomfort.

"Yeah, I do…but I take too long to do them. The teachers told me that I would never be a good shinobi because of it." Of course they did, Nidaime mused.

"You know that hand signs are used to perform many ninjutsu and genjutsu. Through hand seals, you can manipulate the exact amount of chakra to perform a technique, hence why the sequence must be performed without a single mistake. We will be working on different hand seals sequences for you to practice throughout our training. I'll start with two hand sequence and move on as I attest that you performed them to my liking, understood." Naruto nodded with a smile, earning a nod from Tobirama, followed by a predatory smile. Naruto sure had stamina to burn. "Now, let us move on. Next subject is taijutsu. I will teach you my style. It is focused on agility and precise but also powerful strikes. We need to adapt your body as well to it, so we shall do some physical exercises as well." Naruto found it strange that Tobirama was smiling differently, almost evilly so. The boy gulped immediately.

When night approached outside, Tobirama saw the kid sprawled on the ground, his body aching all over the place. He could not help but smile when he saw the look of pure bliss in Naruto's face.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself there brat? I did not take your for a masochist."

"A what…?" Tobirama's mood immediately sorrowed. That would take a while for him to fix.

"Never mind…I need to explain to you something important so pay attention." Naruto looked at the man and took a seat with effort. He was never this tired before. "Considering that we shall fix many of your weaknesses, in time, others shall see that you're improving." Naruto smiled at that, but Tobirama did not. "If your growth is being sabotaged, as you told me, then no doubt they will be suspicious when you start to show improvement. Do not show everything you will be learning with me or else you will attract too much unwanted attention to yourself. It's better that you show your teachers just enough to be in the middle of your class." Naruto looked in doubt at what the Nidaime was talking about.

"But I want them to see that I'm capable as well." Tobirama narrowed his eyes in anger at the comment.

"You're training to become a shinobi, brat, not a circus clown! You never show everything you can do in a fight unless in life or death situation…the minute you do so, you lose your edge over the enemy." Tobirama had his arms crossed as he spoke with complete authority. The boy could not help but imagine Tobirama in the old man's place. Certainly, the old man had never spoken like this, at least not that Naruto had ever seen before. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Naruto nodded in resignation in the end. He really did want to show off his skills, but the Nidaime had helped more in one day than the academy did throughout his entire stay.

"Good…now go home and rest. Tomorrow we'll do everything again until you master it all." Naruto was aching all over the place and simply turned towards the exit, limping. It was good that the cave was close to his apartment, or else Naruto would have preferred to pass out right there in front of his teacher. His body ached in places he never knew existed and despite it all; he could feel his improvement, just from one day under the Nidaime's tutorship. He could only imagine how much stronger he would become in the future.

* * *

**===Three months later===**

* * *

"Again…" Tobirama ordered his pupil once more as he saw a flaw in one of the taijutsu katas Naruto performed.

The kid's clothes were ragged and his face drenched in sweat. Still, Naruto was relentless in his training, performing everything with a content smile on his face.

"You can rest now…" The kid nodded at his teacher and took a seat near the lagoon to freshen up a bit. "As I stated when we began, in three months we managed to correct all your flaws. Your shurikenjutsu is now genin level and you managed to achieve the next chakra control exercise known as water walking. With that, you managed to perform all three ninjutsu required by the academy, even though I believe my older brother is rolling in his grave right now at such low level standards." Naruto came to know a lot about the man known as the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure. When Naruto explained to him the requirements for graduation, Tobirama became mortified. He stated that when his brother founded the academy, the academy requirements was at least three times harder. In addition, Naruto learned that Tobirama valued perfection. He was only satisfied when Naruto performed it to his expectations, or else the genin in training would have to do it again.

"As I was saying, your taijutsu has improved greatly from that monstrosity you showed three months ago."

Naruto nodded with a beaming smile. The man promised and the man delivered.

"Thanks a lot, Tobirama-sensei." The man in question nodded with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Your practical skills are now adequate for us to step up your training, but first I wish to ask how you are faring in other subjects." Throughout the three months, when Naruto became exhausted from the heavy workload, Tobirama would move on to test his mind. At first, the kid complained, but Tobirama silenced him by stating that chakra is a mix of both physical energy and mental energy. Thus, it was important to train one's mind just like one's body. Therefore, Naruto was drilled in history, geography and strategy as well as other related subjects that the kid would need in the future. Of course, the Nidaime could not teach Naruto about the Sandaime and Yondaime's reign, as he was dead before that. Because of this, Naruto struggled a bit at the academy to learn those periods. Aside from this handicap, however, the kid's education improved, much to the Sandaime Hokage's delight. As Tobirama instructed, Naruto rose in the academy rankings, now standing in the middle of the class.

"Right now I'm in the middle…I'm struggling a bit in academics and I'm improving in taijutsu, ninjutsu and shurikenjutsu…" Tobirama cleared his throat and Naruto finished speaking. "…not showing it all as you said."

"Are you observing your teachers and peers like I said?" Naruto nodded, remembering how Tobirama would always tell him to observe his surroundings the entire time. The man also taught Naruto how to maintain his observation without letting it show. It was hard for Naruto, because the kid was too exuberant for his own good, despite dimming it down a bit, because of his interaction with the Nidaime. According to Tobirama, Naruto needed to appear aloof to everything while using only his eyes and ears. In theory, it was easy. For a hyperactive kid with the chakra capacity of a jounin, not so much. He eventually corrected a few things, allowing him to maintain his focus without alerting either the teachers of the other students. Of course, a jounin would spot it easily, though.

"Mizuki-sensei sure look like he wants to kill me in my sleep. Iruka-sensei is pleased with my improvement. The others are the same, I guess. Sasuke is the same as always, broody bastard believes he is kami incarnated…." Tobirama was not surprised, as all Uchiha tend to believe they are gods because of their precious eyes. The Nidaime Hokage was surprised, one day, when he sensed the Uchiha clan dying one by one. He was more surprised when he sensed two Uchiha presences that survived the slaughter. In one of them, Tobirama even sensed traces of his brother's chakra, but it was rather faint. Aside from that, Tobirama theorized that the decision to exterminate the Uchiha Clan was not exactly a move he would make. Despite his grievances with the clan, the Uchiha Clan acted as deterrent to other villages's advances. Without them, Hiruzen's shinobi force was no doubt severely weakened.

If his guess was correct, then Hiruzen was the one who oversaw this manner. A clan as important as the Uchiha would not be extinguished on a whim.

"Right then…seeing as you now have a firm grasp regarding your chakra and physical abilities, we shall move on and focus more on chakra. There is a reason I keep repeating the definition of chakra to you my apprentice. Chakra is the mix between physical and spiritual or mental energy. Through the hand seals you now manage to perform to my liking, you can mold chakra into performing ninjutsu and genjutsu, as well as others I shall not focus on right now. This next phase of your training shall involve advanced chakra control, further training in taijutsu, ninjutsu and dispelling genjutsu. I estimate it will take the rest of the year for us to cover everything." Naruto looked quizzically at the man for a while.

"Why more chakra control? I thought the water walking was the last level and why can't I learn genjutsu techniques?" Nidaime frowned to which Naruto came to understand differently. When they started training, everytime Tobirama frowned, Naruto understood as the man's anger towards him. Later on, the boy realized that the frown was merely the man's discomfort with having to repeat himself. Despite it all, the boy was curious and he could very well blame the man in front of him for allowing him to be curious.

"I do not remember stating that water walking was the last level of chakra control. In fact, there are two others, which are more advanced. The next one, which you will be learning and practicing throughout the rest of the year, is the kunai hovering technique. The exercise consists of focusing large quantities of chakra through your hand and lift a kunai using only your chakra. I will explain it more thoroughly, so don't make that face….it's annoying." Naruto wisely stopped and nodded fearfully. Despite the man not having much chakra, he still could control water like no one else. Those water whips hurt like hell. "The last exercise is reserved for shinobi whose chakra control must be one hundred percent like medic-nins and genjutsu specialists. Since you will never become either one of them, I won't waste time explaining it to you. Now for your second question, your chakra capacity and chakra control are not enough for you to perform genjutsu. However, recognizing and dispelling genjutsu is of utmost importance, considering it is a weakness that the enemy shall exploit. Normally, a shinobi with large chakra reserves is weak against genjutsu techniques."

"Okay I understand somewhat…I mean…" Naruto's face now morphed into a deep thinking one. Tobirama understood that that happened upon a sudden realization on his apprentice's mind.

"What is it?" Naruto looked up from his inner wonderings, but his visage was still contemplating something.

"That last part when you said that people with large chakra capacity are weak against genjutsu. Often times, Iruka-sensei would berate me for not answering the questions as I should. He said that in a history question about the Sandaime Hokage, I had instead written the countries that borders with Fire Country. I tried explaining it to him that I answered correctly, but he did not want to hear it and failed me instead." Tobirama frowned at that, theorizing about what must have happened. Still, as he came up with the conclusion, he thought about the reasons why a teacher would go this far just to sabotage Naruto's growth. This time, it was not due to hatred for the Kyuubi, but rather an open intent to jeopardize Naruto's future. This in itself constituted trouble.

"As you know, Naruto, genjutsu is the art of creating illusions, but that is not the definition of the art. Genjutsu consists mainly in disrupting the enemy's chakra system, in order to make the enemy believe he's seeing or feeling something that's not real." Naruto nodded as he heard the man explaining this before. "Now with that in mind, your teacher could very well have placed you under an illusion that you were answering a different question than it showed on the paper." Naruto's eyes immediately widened and his mouth was hang open. Iruka-sensei would not do that, for sure. It must be Mizuki-teme. Throughout these three months, Tobirama gave him answers that he always craved for. After all the answers were given, the boy felt like shit. Tobirama already expected that as Naruto tended to behave like that on occasions in the past.

"Do not waste time feeling miserable about this. You cannot expect to know these things right now and it's expected of an academy student to follow the teacher's teachings."Naruto nodded at his teacher's words, knowing that Tobirama would not concern himself with trivial situations such as these one.

"Now, as far as ninjutsu is concerned, I shall teach you a few techniques that can aid you in the future. You must remember that being a ninjutsu specialist is not simply unleashing techniques left and right. You must consider a number of factors in the middle of the fight before choosing an adept technique to use. First, it's the environment, which you find yourself in. For instance, if you are in a restricted place, medium to long-range type techniques are frowned upon. Second it's the amount of chakra you still possess, thus you must know how much chakra you need for each technique of your arsenal. Third factor, but no less important, is precision. No matter what your choice will be, you must take into account that the enemy will not simply stand still nor will he give you ample time to perform the technique that may kill him." Naruto let out a giggle at that last one. Tobirama enjoyed speaking with sarcasm. "You will need techniques that fits your fighting style. Learning something you will never use in a battle is a waste of time and effort in my opinion.

"What about elemental ninjutsu?" Tobirama could not help but smirk at the eagerness.

"That will come afterward, kid. First, you need to understand and control your chakra better as well as memorize the principles of ninjutsu on the battlefield. Elemental ninjutsu is too advanced and no apprentice of mine will attempt something he is not a master of." Naruto nodded as he then proceeded his taijutsu practice for the day. The next phase of his training will start tomorrow after all.

* * *

**===Next day===**

* * *

As per Tobirama's instructions, Naruto had a small change in his wardrobe. Nothing major as it would attract unwanted attention. Instead of his jumpsuit, Naruto kept only his pants, going for a brown t-shirt instead. Since people could still see bright orange, no one thought much about it. The genin in training did his routine at the academy, performing slightly worse than his full capabilities. However, to the trained eyes of the Nara Clan, Naruto needed to cover his tracks a little better. Despite being troublesome, one Nara Shikamaru looked at him from the corner of his eye. One month ago, he noticed a slight difference in Naruto's behavior. Others did not even bate an eye, but the little genius knew something was off.

Naruto was the dead last of their class. He did not show aptitude for most assignments. The change however was subtle.

He would last ten seconds longer in taijutsu practice. He would hit the shuriken and kunai target two times when before he missed all of them. Even in academics, the boy improved, also in a subtle manner. To the untrained eye, all of this showed nothing but slight improvement. It was bound to happen to everyone, after enough time. Last week, though, his performance improved once more, this time hitting four shuriken and three kunai. Shikamaru's dad always said that their clan's intellect was above others and that Shikamaru should learn to trust his intellect. After spending time observing the blond kid, Shikamaru came up with a conclusion.

Naruto was more skilled than what he showed at the academy. Sure, Shikamaru did the same thing, showing just enough effort to pass, but he did not expect that the class clown would do the same.

Come to think about it, now the Nara genius was at a loss. He did not know whether Naruto did this from the very start. As he watched Naruto throw kunai, he could see that the kid deliberately threw a couple off target. As usual, the others laughed at him, either those who scored less than him. Normally, what would follow was Naruto screaming at the rest that he would be Hokage someday. Surprisingly so, the troublesome dude just shrugged it off and walked to the end of the line, but Shikamaru could see a faint smile on his face, a content one at that. Shikamaru resolved to confront the kid about this recent behavior. When the break came, the Nara heir searched for Naruto, but he could not find the damn kid anywhere. Usually, it was so easy to find him because of his hideous orange jumpsuit, but he remembered that it has been some time since he saw him wearing it.

That in itself only served to increase Shika's curiosity. He dropped the search when his best friend Chouji appeared offering some chips.

He then followed the chubby friend to a small table as they began to talk about something. Naruto looked down with a frown, sitting on the academy building rooftop. Naruto did see that Shikamaru took notice in his actions and decided to avoid direct confrontations. Tobirama-sensei did say that Naruto should watch out for members of the Nara Clan. In his opinion, they were too smart for their own good, not to mention rather intrusive at times. Despite it all, Shikamaru was not the reason Naruto was on the roof right now. He was rather there for the view of the entire city as well as the forests that protected the village. He could see the occasional blurs traveling through rooftops as well. Because of Tobirama's training, Naruto became more adept at spotting movement. He would follow the blurs and look at them with envy. How he wanted to graduate and become a genin…chunnin…jounin.

Naruto still visualized the top goal, but he became more realist after his talks with the Nidaime. Becoming Hokage means that your strength and ability is beyond question even to the elite of Konoha, Tobirama said. Not only that, but the Hokage needed as much experience as possible in order to make the right and the needed decisions. The only way for Naruto to reach that goal was to climb through all the possible positions in the shinobi hierarchy. One goal after another, he and Tobirama concluded. When the academy ended, Naruto did the same thing he always did right after school, meeting his sensei for his new training regimen. The others looked at his fleeting back and wondered where that kid ran off to every day. The sudden lack of pranks was a welcomed sign for everyone, however. None of the civilian population enjoyed it and surely, no one missed it.

* * *

**===Inside the cave===**

* * *

As soon as Naruto entered the cave, he was assaulted with water whips. Narrowing his eyes at the sudden attack, Naruto focused chakra through his feet and evaded the attacks. A kunai was already on his right hand, showing his battle awareness. He focused on the environment for a while, before jumping just a strong torrent of water came flying at him from the right. As soon as he landed on the ground, Tobirama was standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"If I was the enemy, then you'd be dead right now." Naruto released a sigh and nodded as he turned to meet his sensei. "Do you care to explain what I just did?" Naruto looked at a loss, like the man expected. "I stated yesterday that a ninjutsu specialist knew how to best use his techniques against an opponent. Through specific water techniques, I managed to lure you just where I was positioned, rendering you useless against a killing blow that would follow, if I was your enemy that is. This next part of your training, I will teach you how to do just like I did. Remember this…a battle is only won when you manage to control the battlefield." Naruto nodded resolutely at his sensei's words.

"Now…let us proceed."

* * *

**===With Hiruzen===**

* * *

Releasing a tired sigh, Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, slowly massaged his right wrist from signing too many forms today. The man felt every bone inside his body protesting against the onslaught caused the unending paperwork. Hiruzen figured he would focus on something else instead. Smoking his pipe and drinking some tea just did not help him much these days. He needed to find a new successor and quickly. Grabbing his all-seeing crystal ball, Hiruzen tried to locate one Uzumaki Naruto. Hiruzen got wonderful news from Iruka that the kid has shown improvement, which meant that the chat he had with the kid three months ago bore fruit.

However, come to think about it, three months was also their last conversation. Truth be told, Hiruzen missed seeing the bundle of energy running around. The ball was taking too long to locate the boy, though, which worried the Hokage. According to Iruka, Naruto did not miss any of the classes, so that meant that the boy hadn't gone missing. Still, it should not take this long for the crystal ball to locate the orange bundle of joy. Hiruzen stopped the ball technique after a while, clearly bothered by not being able to find Naruto anywhere. He was about to send someone to investigate when his former teammates and advisors entered his office for their meeting. The Hokage decided to check on him the next day at the academy. Right now, he needed to solve the problem that arose because of the Uchiha Massacre.

Unaware was Hiruzen that the Nidaime Hokage knew exactly how the ball worked and knew how to block its view.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

* * *

The training started out with his new chakra control exercise and as Tobirama expected, Naruto was not doing very well. It consisted of hovering a kunai using only chakra from the hand. Too much chakra and the kunai would fly away. Too little and it would not leave Naruto's hand. As expected, Naruto would overload the chakra and send the kunai skyrocketing. The first few times it was rather amusing to see the nine-year-old kid scream in fright at the flying kunai. When the day ended, Naruto felt the immense fatigue of trying to control his chakra to such a degree. He managed to achieve the necessary amount to sustain the kunai, but the projectile only hovered for about two seconds.

Tobirama settled a partial objective of a minute and ten minutes as the final objective.

"As I said before, it will take time for you to master this level of control. Now, I shall tell you about some ninjutsu techniques that will help you immensely." Despite breathing hard and laying on the ground, Naruto did show a determined smirk. "First technique favors agility and shall aid in your taijutsu. It is called **Shunshin** (Body Flicker Technique). This ninjutsu is a high-speed movement technique, allowing you to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed." Tobirama could already cut Naruto's giddiness with a knife. "Next one you shall learn is **Fukumi Hari** (Hidden Needle Technique). As the name suggests, through this technique, you can throw needles at your opponent using your mouth. The best quality of this technique is that the enemy will never suspect it." The blond showed his disgust at the description, but as usual, Tobirama ignored. "Next one is called **Doku Giri** (Poison Mist Technique). It consists of emitting a poison mist at your opponent. This technique is perfect for multiple opponents and also for when you need to escape. The stupid enemy will attempt to pass through the mist, only to inhale all the poison."

"The one with the hidden needles aside, bring it on Tobirama-sensei." Nidaime smirked at the kid. He was indeed a training masochist.

"There is another technique I intend to teach you that is my creation. It will serve you nicely both in reconnaissance and fighting multiple opponents. It's called Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone Technique). Now, I know what you'll say, so save it. This is not like the regular bunshin technique, first of all, because it takes more chakra to perform. The regular bunshin technique is an illusion whereas the shadow clone is a ninjutsu. You will actually create an identical replica of you with its own chakra capacity and movements. Best of all, however, is that the clone you create can learn just as much as you do. Also, everything he learns will be transferred to you. I hope that your brain can process the implication of learning this particular technique do you not?" Naruto was ecstatic at this point, looking at the man with a big smile on his face.

With this technique, he could double his learning time and incorporate more skills to his repertoire. Just this talk alone was enough to give him more energy.

"As I said before, bring it on Tobirama-sensei…"

"Hn, I shall do as you comply…also, I shall teach you how to detect and dispel genjutsu. I will explain the concept throughout this next training phase. Now go home." The boy nodded as he got up and left. Tobirama looked at his apprentice's back, before turning to the scroll and vanishing. His presence was solely due to Naruto's chakra constantly pumping the seal, so he could not afford to be careless, or else his legacy would be lost forever. The thought alone made him ponder. He needed to make contingency plans and fast.

* * *

**That's all for now. **

**Look forward to next chapter as Naruto will meet another student of Tobirama's. Points for anyone who guess his identity. Just a small hint. It's neither Hiruzen or Danzou. Also, next chapter, I shall begin with his most advanced training. Like I said before, Tobirama's presence will only last until his graduation. However, I intend for Naruto to learn everything until then. Of course, I'm not saying that Naruto will become kage level by his graduation. Above all else, the kid will have the knowledge and will use it throughout the missions, gaining experience and even more skills because of it. I will explain more as the story progresses.**

**Please review. Once more I appreciate everyone for contributing with this story. So please…the more reviews the better.**

**See ya.**


	3. Learning the elements

**Author Note**

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.

Wow, second chapter and once again, more than one hundred reviews; I appreciate all of you for this as it helps me get some incredible ideas for this story. Many reviews tend to focus on my ideas regarding Naruto's pairing. First, I wanted to make clear that it will take a long while before any sort of engagement occurs. I have already expressed that this story will be focused on adventure mostly, with very few space for romantic interaction, even when I review which one will fill the slot as his girlfriend and so on. Nevertheless, since I have given some of the readers, a tip or two, I shall provide one now. The woman I had chosen is not from Konoha, nor is she from any of the hidden villages. In fact, in canon, the character is 'male', but not here.

Ok that's about it…however, now it became too easy for everyone to figure out.

Furthermore, the readers are quite put off about me taking training arcs a bit too far. I can see that, so I have decided that this will be his last chapter, hence why I intend to cover all the aspects of Naruto's training that Naruto need to master before the academy is at an end. Of course, that means elemental ninjutsu and another ability I shall not divulge. You will have to read the chapter to find out. Lastly, Nidaime's knowledge on space-time ninjutsu will be one of the topics as well. Obviously, Naruto won't be learning it before graduating. However, he will receive the needed basic knowledge to learn the technique in due time. Now, without further a due, let us begin.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Learning the elements**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

October 10th.

Today was the date of Naruto's tenth birthday and he was walking together with the Sandaime Hokage towards the boy's favorite restaurant. As soon as they arrived at the Ramen Stand, they placed the orders and conversed while waiting for it. The conversation topics were varied in nature, but most of the topics focused on the boy's small but constant progress in the academy. It was not enough for Naruto to be in the top ten, but now the boy was firmly in the middle of the class in terms of overall skills. Taijutsu and shurikenjutsu were his best subjects, with ninjutsu and academics following closely behind. Hiruzen even noticed, throughout the conversation, a couple of advanced words in his vocabulary and could not help but praise the lad for it.

"I'm thrilled that you are improving in your studies, Naruto-kun. I guess that talk we had really helped you."

The boy had his mouth full with ramen and ate it all, before responding.

"Thanks Jiji, yeah that talk helped big time you know. I now fully understand the contents in the academy books."

Hiruzen nodded, deeply please to see that the boy had also learned some manners as well. Normally, Naruto would speak with his mouth full.

"That's good…now as you're working hard at the academy, I wanted to give you something for your birthday." Naruto stopped eating and looked at his grandfather figure with glee in his eyes.

"For real, Jiji…thanks...what is it? It is your hat isn't it? I knew it." Hiruzen smiled at that, feeling content with the boy's progress and already making predictions about the boy's future achievements. The Sandaime Hokage grabbed from within his robe, a small scroll and handled it to Naruto. The boy caught the item with a frown on his face, much to Hiruzen's amusement. He really wanted to take a photo of the boy's face once he saw what was inside the scroll.

"Naruto-kun, please open the scroll and tell me what you see." The boy proceeded as instructed and saw what appeared to be kanji sequences forming a circle in the middle of the paper. "Now, this is something every shinobi must learn and is called a storage seal. With this, you can pretty much seal anything you desire. Most shinobi use it to keep their mission gear, camp supplies and even weapons. In order to seal any item, you simply need to place said item on top of the circle and focus some chakra on the scroll. The seal will do the rest and store your selected item. With me so far?" Naruto nodded, looking transfixed by the design. Hiruzen nodded in appreciation. The boy had indeed grown. The Hokage half-expected looks of doubt and a lot of questions, but the boy surprised him once more. "Okay, once you sealed the item, you simply do the same procedure in order to unseal it." Naruto nodded with a smile on his face, satisfied with the newly acquired knowledge. "Now Naruto-kun, let's see if you understood what I explained. Go ahead and unseal your gift."

Blinking twice since he believed that the gift was already given, Naruto beamed in glee at the second gift. He placed one hand on the circle and made the hand seal taught by the Hokage. A popping sound emerged followed by some smoke and Naruto's mouth simply opened wide. The boy held in his right hand a brand new shinobigatana. The scabbard was black in color and had no design whatsoever. However, to Naruto's eyes, at least, it was perfect. With his other hand, Naruto grabbed the hilt, noticing how the band adjusted to his hold. Pulling the blade out, the sword's newest metal reflected the sunlight and nearly blinded the gaping boy.

To Hiruzen, the boy was now as giddy as ever before.

"As I said before, this gift was to reward you for your improvement and hard work. I urge you to always improve, because it will only benefit you in the future." Naruto nodded, remembering the words of wisdom from his secret sensei and that if he had really showed everything he was capable of, he would have been close to the top of the class. Still, Tobirama-sensei was quite clear on keeping his full potential a secret until his graduation and Naruto owed the man enough to abide by his rules.

"I will jiji, thank you so much."

"You are most welcome…however please refrain from taking the sword to the academy. You will not be needing it there. If you show much promise with kenjutsu, then I can supply you with introduction scrolls to a style practiced here in Konoha." Naruto nodded and then sealed the weapon inside the scroll. Their lunch progressed nicely with some small talk shared between them. Naruto was curious about the past Hokages and asked many questions about the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokage. Hiruzen thought that the boy worshipped the Yondaime, but answered regardless. Hiruzen paid for their bill and bid Naruto goodbye, already dreading the amount of paperwork he had to read.

* * *

**===Inside the cave===**

* * *

The genin in training bid farewell to the Hokage before running straight towards the cave where Tobirama-sensei was. As soon as he went inside, Naruto saw another one just like him working on taijutsu katas. Another Naruto was busy going through the ninjutsu he had learned from Tobirama-sensei. There was a third Naruto conversing about genjutsu disruption techniques with the Nidaime Hokage. Said Naruto turned to the one that entered the cave and smiled.

"How was the meeting with jiji?"

"Oh you will learn all about it soon enough, boss. I do not want to ruin the surprise." The Naruto who met with Hiruzen was actually one of the shadow clones. The clone tossed the scroll with the sword to the original one, before dispelling and sending the information to the original. All the clones in the cave stopped what they were doing as the information came back to them. All of them showed grins of happiness, while the original unsealed the sword he received from the Sandaime. Tobirama saw the artifact in Naruto's possession and could not help but feel some sense of nostalgia. To believe that Saru had kept it all those years. This very sword was a gift from the very own Nidaime to the head of the Sarutobi Clan, prior to the clan's decision in joining Konoha. Sarutobi Sasuke then presented the sword to his son, Hiruzen and did so right in front of Senju Tobirama.

"Naruto let me see the sword for a second."

Tobirama grabbed the hilt and inspected the blade. The metal still looked the same when Tobirama gave it to the Sarutobi Clan head.

"I guess we can fit kenjutsu in your training agenda. This metal is of great quality and allows you to channel chakra through it, thus hardening the blade." Tobirama explained, before giving the sword back to the boy. "It is important that you treat this sword with great care. With time and without repair, the sword starts to rust and it becomes useless. It is actually a philosophy of the Samurai, but greatly applied to a shinobi, my pupil." The real Naruto looked at the man as he had a lost look on his face, while explaining so. "Like a samurai treats his sword, so must a shinobi take great care with the tools he possesses. There will be a time when a shuriken or kunai in hand is the difference between life and death, so always take good care of the tools you possess."

"Got it…" This was a gift from the Sandaime and Naruto would punch himself before allowing such an awesome weapon like this go to waste.

"Make sure that you do. Now, we have managed to cover a lot of ground here. You learned the advanced chakra control exercise as well as the four ninjutsu I taught you. You can already disrupt B-ranked illusions. Taijutsu and shurikenjutsu are greatly above my expectations. I knew that teaching you the _Kage Bunshin_ would aid you greatly. I originally planned to teach you elemental ninjutsu by your 11th birthday, but with the Kage Bunshin method, we managed to advance further than expected. Before you start grinning like an idiot…" Naruto frowned at the jab, but said nothing as the man had an amused smile on his face. "…elemental training is at least two times as dangerous and time consuming. As I am sure you learned by now, I expect nothing but full mastery coming from you. Now, tell me the five elements and tell me the order of them."

"There are five elements utilized in ninjutsu…fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. Fire beats wind, wind beats lighting, lightning beats earth, earth beats water and lastly water beats fire." The fact that Naruto recited that without stopping spoke volumes of the boy's increase in academics.

"Very good, now every shinobi is naturally attuned to one specific element. Therefore, ninjutsu of this element is much easier to learn and less chakra consuming to perform. It also means that the shinobi is weak against attacks from the opposite element. This information may be obvious, but when you're out there fighting for your life, even the most obvious information is forgotten. Some shinobi are born with more than one affinity though but that's quite rare. In order for us to ascertain your affinity, we need a special kind of paper. Since I know you don't have the slightest clue where to find one and I suppose that it would look suspicious if you ask around, there are other means of doing so." Naruto blinked once, waiting for the alternative method when he saw Tobirama take a step forward and place his hand on the top of his head.

The Nidaime Hokage closed his eyes and said nothing aside from brief throat sounds.

Two minutes later, Tobirama opened his eyes and immediately showed what appeared to be a satisfied smirk. The man had stumbled upon a gold mine and now he knew it. Naruto's main affinity was wind, but the boy had also strong ties with water affinity. While Tobirama knew a bit about fuuton ninjutsu, he was considered a god amongst men when it came to suiton ninjutsu. He would make sure that Naruto learned the steps to wind elemental manipulation and even a technique or two. For now, Naruto would have to train fuuton techniques on his own. As far as water ninjutsu, however…Tobirama would make sure to pass on his entire knowledge to his pupil.

Upon explaining his findings with the boy, the man allowed Naruto to show his enthusiasm freely.

Tobirama shared that enthusiasm as he had found a suitable shinobi to inherit his legacy.

* * *

**===Two days later===**

* * *

Naruto was walking home after the gruesome training he had with Tobirama-sensei. The man made good on his promise and would not end today's training until Naruto could make ripples on the cave's stream using only his chakra. It was the first step to water manipulation, Tobirama explained. The boy was still far from managing, but Tobirama did say it would be time consuming, even with clones helping. Naruto had nothing against postponing fuuton training for the time being. Tobirama already stated before that he would not be of great assistance in regards to wind manipulation mastery. Naruto would need to seek outside help for that.

The problem was that aside from the Nidaime, Naruto had no one else to seek help to.

The Sandaime was the only one, but elemental manipulation was considered rare even for genin shinobi to learn. The boy figured that he could find something in the library, but he didn't have his hopes up. Said information was limited to shinobi only and he had yet to graduate from the academy. Naruto was about to climb the stairs of his apartment building when his nose came to life.

The smell was simply incredible.

He looked to the woods close to his apartment and was startled when he saw a small fire. Acting on his curiosity, Naruto entered the woods and was surprised to see an old man sitting next to the fire, working on what appeared to be a stew of some kind. His nose located the source of the smell and Naruto began to salivate in anticipation.

"Oh welcome young one, are you hungry?"

The voice awakened Naruto and made the boy look at the senior individual. He appeared quite old in Naruto's opinion, perhaps older than the Sandaime. He wore a mesh armor shirt under a short brown sleeveless kimono with a pair of grey paints. Referring to his question, Naruto was not so hungry; however the smell alone had brought a deeper sense of hunger. The elder took a plate and poured some stew, before offering it to the blond. Naruto continued to drool, but instead he stared at the stew, wondering if he really should, considering that he had never meet this man before and was already accepting food from him. "It's not poisoned I assure you young one, please do keep this old man some company."

Eventually, Naruto relented and ate it all like it was no tomorrow.

In no time, Naruto had two more helpings. His stomach threatened to burst through Naruto's clothes.

"Ne jichan, this is very delicious." The old man let out a warm laugh.

"Glad you like it, Naruto-kun." The lad narrowed his eyebrows instantly.

"How do you know my name?" Once more, the same laughter came out from the man's mouth.

"I've been a shinobi for well over fifty years now. There are not many in the village I do not know by name. Also, I am good friends with the Sandaime Hokage and he has talked great things about you." Naruto relaxed immediately and smiled at the elder shinobi. Any friend of his jiji was a friend of his. "My name is Kosuke Maruboshi, nice to meet you." The two began by exchanging introductory conversation about each other, until Kosuke offered to cook something more.

"Say jichan, you must be quite strong then? Fifty years training and doing missions, I mean…you must be at least a jounin."

"Actually, I'm a still genin Naruto-kun."

"…" _3_

"…" _2_

"…" _1_

"What? How can you still be a genin? That's not possible." The man laughed once more, but said nothing. Naruto just kept working his brain trying to understand this old man's situation. He remembered the old man Hokage saying once that some shinobi in Konoha were promoted to chunnin or jounin and did not even reach their twenties yet. How could this man remain a genin for so long? Remembering about Tobirama's teachings, Naruto could see many inconsistences with this story. That being said and taking into account that this Kosuke person was not lying; perhaps there was more to this story. Deciding to change the subject, Naruto asked more questions.

"Well, at least you got to fight alongside a lot of powerful shinobi, right jichan?"

"Oh yes…many powerful one indeed. Konoha's White Fang, the Sannin and all the Hokages, except our esteemed Shodaime." Naruto smiled at the man, wondering about how it would be to fight alongside them.

"You know jichan, I've researched a lot about the Nidaime but the history books does not specify much. How was it to fight alongside him?" Kosuke looked at the little bundle of joy and could not help but show a tender looking smile. Normally, such an exuberant kid would not have the patience to sit and talk with the elderly. In addition, in Kosuke's mind and even Hiruzen's, the boy's hero was the Yondaime Hokage. Nevertheless, Kosuke complied with the request and looked to the skies.

"Senju Tobirama-sama was a man of great power, young one. Just his presence alone commanded respect. People would always see the Shodaime Hokage for the man's many achievements and strength. However, while people revered Senju Hashirama, Tobirama-sama was the one responsible for truly managing the village, with the exception of the academy that Shodaime oversaw it personally. Tobirama-sama would pick missions that he would go personally and thus selected other shinobi to go with him. His suiton ninjutsu was considered a legend in the field and many of our enemies would not dare face the man. However, the Nidaime Hokage had many other skills that were equally feared." Naruto nodded, feeling quite pleased with having said man teaching him how to become a real shinobi. Two years ago, Naruto would boost to the world that he would the Hokage, however inside he felt inferior since he was never able to show any Tobirama's help, Naruto was now able to progress further and further, until the point that becoming Hokage was not simply a distant dream.

It now became a possibility.

"Naruto-kun…?" The boy looked at Kosuke. "You seemed distracted about something? Is something on your mind?"

"Oh no…it's just that I was trying to imagine what was like to fight alongside the Nidaime, based on what you described." Kosuke smiled with a nod.

"You seem to speak quite fondly of him. I remember Sandaime-sama telling me that you idolized the Yondaime, though." Naruto nodded. Well, having the Nidaime as his personal trainer did shift his opinion.

"Yeah…the Yondaime is awesome and all; he was the one that defeated the Kyuubi, right! He even got to swift the tide in the last great ninja war. However, the Nidaime Hokage's prowess comes from before even the hidden village founding. From the books, in those days, simply surviving as a shinobi was already an achievement. Not only that, but from what I read, the Nidaime Hokage was regarded as one of the strongest shinobi in existence, losing only to the Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara." Kosuke could not help but snicker at the book comparison. Tobirama-sama never did like Madara and certainly, he did not enjoy being compared to Shodaime-sama. Aside from that, Naruto-kun did know a lot about the Hokages' history.

"You certainly enjoyed reading about the Kages' history. I bet that they would be proud to hear that you took such an interest in them."

The boy this time showed a bright smile.

"Well, I do want to be just like them in the future." Kosuke opened his eyes a bit looking at the kid in front of him, before smiling fondly. Hiruzen was right…Naruto-kun was indeed quite interesting. The conversation continued for a while, before Naruto bid the old man farewell. Kosuke appreciated the company dearly and invited the kid for another dinner anytime.

* * *

**===Next day===**

* * *

After the academy, Naruto started his training in earnest, working his chakra through hell and back in order to learn water manipulation as per Tobirama's instructions. So far, the boy, even with the use of his clones, barely learned the first phase, but Tobirama knew it would take time. In his mind, it was better to waste more time in learning the fundamentals, because then Naruto could learn the most advanced subjects faster. It was like an engineering project. It takes more time do design the project than to perform the actual construction. That way, once the construction starts it wouldn't be hindered by outside interference. Also, the kid had advanced chakra control, so by Tobirama's estimate; he should finish both the first and second steps today.

The clones all worked in different sides of the lake, until one short burst of chakra from all of the Narutos managed to form ripples. Senju smirked…Naruto could already perform C-ranked ninjutsu with this level of control, but the man would wait until Naruto learned all four steps. It was necessary to reach Tobirama's level.

"Excellent…now let us proceed with the second step. You learned how to make ripples. Now you shall learn how to manipulate the water into forming a whirlpool like this, watch." Naruto watched as Tobirama landed his hand on the lake and manipulated chakra. The boy saw that around the man's hand, a spiral formed until the entire area became a water tornado. "Use your chakra and imagine it swirling around your palm while the palm is on the water surface. Start by transforming the entire lake into one gigantic whirlpool. Your control will improve when you manage to make it smaller and smaller until it barely circles your hand. Get to it…oh and I will be taking a bunshin to teach some kenjutsu katas. The clone will memorize it, but it will be up to you to train the movements and perfect them in time. Remember that Kage Bunshin training will not make up for hard work".

"I know…uh sensei, I was wondering about my other affinity, wind. How do I get to train it while I'm focusing only on water?"

"Getting stronger is good, but getting ahead of yourself is not. Patience is required in a shinobi's life. Even with the bunshin, learning two affinities at the same time will do more harm than good. You won't be able to fully assimilate the intricacies of each element at the same time. It is important that we focus one hundred percent of our time to each task, before moving on to the others. As I told you, while I know of the steps required to learn wind manipulation and even a couple of techniques, I cannot help you as much as I can with water. Perhaps, it will be prudent to leave wind manipulation aside for now and resume once you graduate and is transferred to a jounin-sensei. He or she can perhaps supply you with the knowledge you require."

"Ok I understand…also, after graduating, I can have access to the shinobi section of the library." Tobirama nodded, before seeing the boy return to the task of finishing the second step.

"That too…now stop wasting time and do it already. I expect you to finish this exercised today." Naruto gulped nervously at the look Tobirama sent him from the corner of his eye. The man was no stranger to the old water whip method of making sure that his student stayed focused.

* * *

**===Two months later===**

* * *

'_Okay…mold chakra in your stomach and inhale through the nose…hold it in and then exhale it all out at once…'_ _Suiton Mizurappa no Jutsu_ (Water Release: Violent Water Wave Technique). Naruto joined both hands in a praying fashion as he inhaled, before expelling a strong jet of water at the waterfall. Tobirama stood by the boy's side, inspecting the attack while it was performed. In his eyes, the boy was already proficient and will only improve in due time. The second step actually ended up taking Naruto an entire week to finish, due to his large amount of chakra. The third step involved primarily about the level of control regarding the water inside Naruto's body.

Aside from this project, Tobirama had also drilled Naruto's clones with different kenjutsu positions and even got to tutor him on battle plans involving the sword. Tobirama now felt confident enough that Naruto was ready for the fourth and last step of water manipulation mastery. In fact, Naruto was clueless, but there were only three steps needed to be proficient in water ninjutsu. The fourth step was purely Tobirama's creation as it allowed him to use water techniques even without a nearby water source.

"My student, you've come quite far in your training and now it is time for me to pass on the first part of my legacy. Follow me please…" Naruto nodded as he watched Tobirama step into the water and walking casually towards the waterfall. "As I explained it you, water is an abundant element of nature. You are able to find it in almost every place you look. Suiton ninjutsu divides in two types of techniques, the ones where you use the water within your body and the ones you use outside your body. A true master of suiton ninjutsu, however, does not need to rely on any nearby source of water and I shall pass on this knowledge to you, so that it may once more benefit the village." Naruto nodded as the man took a seat right below the waterfall. The heavy water bombarded the man's blue armory, but he did not appear discomforted.

"The forth step to mastery is to learn how to use water ninjutsu by using the water molecules saturated in the air." Naruto looked ignorant of the subject, but the man learned his patience. Naruto was a fast learner. "The air molecules are composed mainly on two chemical substances, called Hydrogen and Oxygen. Both these substances together form water molecules, which for a suiton master is an unending source to be used. Now, come sit by my side and focus on your chakra." The boy did so and immediately flinched at the water pressure. "Close your eyes and spread your chakra through the entire lake around you. The key to this exercise is to become one with the very element."

Naruto did as his sensei told and closed his eyes, attempting to ignore the discomfort.

According to his sensei, the water element was unlike all the other elements. Its nature was calm and serene, but anytime and if used properly, it could become quite fearsome. It took a while but eventually Naruto got used to the waterfall bombarding his shoulder. In his mind, all he could think of was the deep sapphire color of the water he was seating on. Senju Tobirama looked at his student and smirked. The boy was ready to receive his legacy now. When Naruto opened his eyes, Tobirama could see himself in the boy's eyes. Like the water they were seating, Naruto needed to be calm and serene in nature, but perfectly capable of being quite fearsome when needed.

"You're now ready to learn suiton ninjutsu." Naruto nodded in determination.

* * *

**===Two months later===**

* * *

After achieving the end of the water manipulation training, Tobirama drilled the boy, teaching him a couple more water ninjutsu for him to practice, the _Suiton Suijinheki_ (Water Release: Water Wall Technique) and _Suiton Suidanha_ (Water Release: Water Severing Wave Technique). The last one was highly offensive and it consisted on spewing a high pressure water stream that was powerful enough to cut cleanly through several thick trees. Naruto learned how to use the water molecules as source, so the water techniques required less hand seals and even less chakra than necessary. Also, Naruto's clones learned the kenjutsu katas taught by the Nidaime, who firmly believed that Naruto could use his fuuton affinity to use it in conjunction with kenjutsu. With that thought in mind, Tobirama started teaching the first step to wind manipulation. It was required of Naruto to slice a leaf using only his chakra.

Unlike before, Tobirama left the clones in charge of learning wind manipulation. Naruto would focus exclusively of honing his physical skills, hence tai and kenjutsu. The clones allowed him to master the positions and battle strikes, but Naruto needed to be able to perform those movements like it was second nature to him. Right now, Naruto was using kenjutsu against Tobirama while the man had two kunai. Their movements were fast, but nowhere as lethal as it would be throughout a fight. Tobirama was of course faster and much more agile, but the man held back his speed to match Naruto's. In time, Tobirama would increase his speed until he deemed Naruto's ability acceptable. Obviously, the man could not expect Naruto to become jounin level right now. He was only ten years old. He will grow and thus increase his strength and speed. Right now, the best Tobirama can hope for is for Naruto to learn the positions as well as learn how to read the opponent's moves.

Right now, Tobirama and Naruto were fighting on top of the water, thus training Naruto's chakra control while keeping him on the move.

The Nidaime Hokage was impressed with the boy's tenacity in battle. Even if they were fighting at chuunin speeds, Naruto was making full use of the katas he learned, not allowing Tobirama to figure out a pattern. The boy would attack high and attack low, using his sword and his feet. If the boy learned another style, he could mix it up even more, thus not allowing the opponent time to breathe. Truly astounding was the boy's progress but equally so was the boy's potential. The style Tobirama taught the boy revolved around speed and agility with fast and precise strikes. There was another style that Tobirama had in mind. It was the complete opposite of his, rather focusing on strength augmented by chakra. Just one punch from Hashirama was enough to break some ribs if used correctly. While Naruto did not possess perfect chakra control like his older brother possessed, it still could be adapted.

Turning to the battle, both traded some blows before skidding throughout the water, making some distance.

"We're done for the day, Naruto. Get some rest." The blond nodded with a smile as he left the small lake and took a seat by the margin.

Tobirama could see the satisfied look on Naruto's face. The boy had grown quite a lot under his tutorship and the man was not speaking about the ninja arts. When they started training, Tobirama often had to resort to his water whips to keep the boy focused. While it seemed brutal to some, it did help keep the boy motivated. Now, it was rare to see the boy losing his concentration, thus allowing them to make full use of their time together, learning new material and even perfecting his already existing arsenal. The clones had gone, transferring their training to the real one, who then grabbed a leaf on the ground and attempted the technique. He placed the leaf between his hands and molded wind chakra. As he saw the leaf, he smiled upon seeing that he managed to slice it half way already. He got up and bowed at his sensei, showing respect and gratitude.

"See ya tomorrow, sensei." Tobirama nodded with a smile as he saw the boy leave the cave.

When Naruto left, Tobirama turned to the scroll behind him and inspected it thoroughly, seeing if he had missed anything of importance. This will be the boy's graduation gift. Tobirama had placed one hundred percent of his knowledge inside this scroll, containing not only his entire elemental ninjutsu repertoire, but also his space-time ninjutsu techniques and even his most dark creation, the _Edo Tensei_ technique. A technique that enable the creator to revive the dead. Hashirama vehemently protested against the creation and Tobirama at the time explained that he would do everything he could to better protect the village. At the time, the man firmly believed that the means were justified just as long as the end meant Konoha's survival and prosperity. For some reason, he did not wish for Naruto to learn the Edo Tensei technique. It was a vile technique; that much he knew. Tobirama wished for Naruto to receive his legacy so that it could be of use to the village. He did not wish for the kid to tamper with such knowledge.

However, that did not mean that he would not teach the boy how to undo the technique. The Edo Tensei was created with the knowledge he acquired from Uzumaki Mito's teachings, which meant that the knowledge the revive the dead was in Uzushio's ancient scrolls. If those scrolls were to be stolen by someone who wished to use the technique against Konoha, it was Tobirama's responsibility to teach Naruto how to undo the technique. Aside from that, it was now time to teach him a thing or two about space-time ninjutsu. Of course, it would take a lot of time for the boy to grasp the concept, but eventually Naruto would learn it through the instructions Tobirama left in the scroll.

* * *

**Author Note**

Ok that's it for now. Next chapter, Naruto will graduate and enter a genin team of my choosing. I am open for suggestions, though. One thing is important…I will not follow the regular choices, meaning that some mixing will happen. As to the Edo Tensei technique, I had a couple reviewers asking about it. If Naruto were to tamper with it, it would lead of bad choices in the future and then the boy would start believing that the end justified the means.

To everyone, a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

See you all in 2015.


	4. Graduation, Revelations and Teams

**Author Note**

Hi there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.

I'm thrilled to the great number of reviews. It shows me that you're all very excited for this story. Most of the reviews focused on Naruto's future pairing or his future genin team. Trust me, I have read all the reviews and made a decision that I'm sure everyone will enjoy it immensely. Those who know my other stories understand that I don't tend to follow the same choices as Kishimoto. I used the same concept and applied to this story. One single fact that changed Kishi's entire dynamic was Naruto not being dead-last anymore. That alone changed a lot, if you think about it. I won't share more details about the team, so as not to spoil your reading. However, I am confident that you'll enjoy it.

Without further a due, here is the chapter**.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Graduation, Revelations and Teams**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

An entire year has passed since Naruto first learned elemental manipulation and Tobirama could proudly say that the kid was ready to face the trails of a shinobi life. That didn't mean that Naruto had learned everything that a man of the Nidaime Hokage's caliber had to pass on, though. On the other hand, Naruto had managed to learn the basic knowledge behind every skill that Tobirama had meaning that the genin in training would be able to learn everything in due time. By Tobirama's best estimate, by the time Naruto advanced to chunnin, he would already learn the majority of water ninjutsu. Regarding space-time ninjutsu and even battle fuuinjutsu, it would take much longer…perhaps jwhen he made jounin.

In regards to other skills like taijutsu, shurikenjutsu and kenjutsu, Naruto was a natural. He had learned fluidity and agility from Tobirama's style of fighting. He also learned how to apply chakra to augment his strikes, a style created by Senju Hashirama. His kenjutsu looked quite sharp and the man was not mentioning the ability that Naruto developed over this year regarding the use of wind chakra in conjunction with his shinobigatama. Aside from using wind in kenjutsu, Naruto had finalized the steps required to wind manipulation, by slicing the cave waterfall in half. After that, Tobirama taught Naruto the only wind techniques he knew, Fuuton Reppushou (Wind Release: Wind Gale Palm Technique) and Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique). It did not take long for Naruto to learn those, as wind was his main affinity, despite how much they had trained in water ninjutsu. Unfortunately, so, despite Tobirama's wish to further extend the boy's knowledge in fuuton, he could not. Aside from that, the kid was ready.

_Fuuton Reppushou_ (Wind Release: Wind Gale Palm Technique)

The real Nidaime watched as Naruto's shuriken propelled by the wind technique hit the Nidaime's shadow clone, dispelling the replica. The real one received the information immediately and smiled in acknowledgement. Another ability Naruto developed under his tutelage was battle strategy. At the beginning of the fight, they engaged in kenjutsu, but the Tobirama clone had used superior speed, forcing Naruto to abandon his first strategy and create a small distance with a couple of well-thrown shuriken. The Nidaime clone slashed through the projectiles, but Naruto was already making hand seals for the _Suiton Mizurappa_ (Water Release: Wind Water Wave Technique). The clone evaded the water attack and cast a disorienting genjutsu on Naruto, who managed to dispel it, before evading a barrage of kunai. Once more, turning to attack, Naruto resorted to taijutsu.

Using considerable speed, he got in close and danced against the clone for a while before placing one foot back and focus chakra on his left fist. The blue energy surrounded Naruto's hand. If the clone got hit with it, he would dispel. However, using jounin level speed, the clone evaded the attack and flipped in the air, hitting a dead kick on Naruto's chest, sending him flying. The kick disoriented him a little, but eventually Naruto managed to flip in mid-air and initiate the combo that took the clone down with shuriken and fuuton ninjutsu.

Overall, it was an impressive match for a genin or even a chunnin, in Tobirama's book.

"Well done, Naruto. You've come very far from that brat three years ago who could not even use his chakra properly. I believe you are ready to face the trials ahead as a shinobi of Konohagakure." Naruto bowed in respect to the older man's acknowledgment of his skills, but if one were to look closer, a big broad smile was evident on his face. A side project in this training consisted in teaching the boy how a shinobi should act, on and off mission time. Of course, Naruto was still Naruto in personality hence the grand smile in recognition. Nidaime had just added a few points here and there. Analytical skills were tampered when emotion overruled judgment.

While on the mission, emotion just did not belong.

In Nidaime's time, even genin were penalized for allowing emotion to jeopardize the mission. Emotion was only allowed in off mission times. Nidaime always preached about the balance between light and dark or ying and yang. He had two examples in the past that he constantly explained to Naruto. Sarutobi Hiruzen was the light. He could handle somewhat fine in the dark, but not as much as Tobirama preferred. Shimura Danzou was the complete opposite, one hundred percent comfortable in being the dark and not at all used to being in the light. Tobirama had chosen Hiruzen as the Sandaime Hokage for precisely this reason. Naruto came to learn a lot about Tobirama's strongest students in the past and how they acted in general.

Lastly, but no less important, Tobirama focused on trust.

A shinobi should learn that the consequences of whom he trusted. In a mission, even allies could turn against you. Nidaime did not tell Naruto not to trust anyone, focusing instead on tutoring him into playing caution when meeting someone you do not know one hundred percent. Enemies often times used trust as a weapon to get close and perform the killing blow. Even if Naruto argued that the war was over and that Konoha lived peacefully, Tobirama simply countered stating that peaceful times were simply periods in between wars. Naruto frowned at the notion, but said nothing in reply. He knew his history now, thanks to talking to a living embodiment of the clan wars era and even the first great ninja war.

"Thank you sensei…" Nidaime nodded with a smile, before losing it.

"Naruto, I believe it is also time to talk to you about something important." Naruto looked at the man that taught him a lot these last three years. He had Tobirama's attention. The Senju truly believed that Hiruzen would eventually come clean with the boy about what he contained. However, day in and day out, nothing had happened. Naruto even met the Sandaime on numerous occasions for a lunch or dinner, but the subject had never come up. Otherwise, the kid would have already asked questions about it. Naruto deserved to know about it, otherwise it could jeopardize any mission he was in. One needed to fully comprehend the scenario in order to make a proper decision and knowing that Naruto had the Kyuubi inside him maked all the difference.

"What is it Tobirama-sensei?" The small pause in Tobirama's speech alerted Naruto to the seriousness of the subject.

"Do you know what jinchuuriki are?"

* * *

**===Graduation Test===**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was the first student to step inside the classroom, as today was his last day as a student. Tomorrow would be his first day as a shinobi. There was simply no way he could fail the exam. His sensei stated that the academy's standards had fallen so much that even a civilian could pass. Tobirama's words were based on the academy curriculum during the village's founding. The boy however cared very little about today, as the memory of yesterday was still clear inside his mind. Inside of him was the one responsible for almost destroying Konona, killing multiple shinobi/civilians and even killing the Yondaime Hokage.

As a little boy, Naruto always craved for answers.

Tobirama-sensei provided him with a lot of them, even if only focused on his shinobi studies. However, up to now, he had no answer regarding his treatment by the village population and even some shinobi. He would hear whispers and feel the villager's eyes on his back, looking at him with disdain and hatred. His young mind could not think of anything that would warrant such discrimination against him, hence why he urged to receive an explanation for said treatment. He never had one, until now.

He was the jinchuuriki of the feared Kyuubi no Yoko.

According to Tobirama-sensei, jinchuuriki meant power of human sacrifice and that some villages used to seal tailed beasts inside shinobi and train the shinobi to become the ultimate weapon against enemies. Based on the events that occurred thirteen years ago, Tobirama did not believe that Konoha had done so. However, the fact remained that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto and the boy could very well use the fox's chakra as his own, if nothing more, to expand Naruto's already large reserves. Tobirama also stated his wonderings about why Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, had not told the boy about it. In the end, one fact was easy to conclude.

The Sandaime had lied to him and did so with a purpose.

Naruto even questioned the very Nidaime Hokage about why the man forgot to mention this fact three years ago, to which he simply stated that it was irrelevant to Naruto learning his legacy. Tobirama also informed him that because of their training, it would become much easier to control the fox's chakra in the future. Naruto came to respect the man for training him, but the only thing Tobirama ever considered relevant was Naruto's training, nothing more. Emotions, according to Tobirama, were irrelevant hence why the man didn't even think to sugarcoat the truth to him. In actuality, Naruto did not expect anything less after expending so much time with him. He expected differently from the Sandaime, though.

Before meeting Tobirama, Naruto's entire circle of trust revolved around the Sandaime Hokage. He was the only one who had ever shown kindness to the boy and was the only one who ever bothered helping him. The ramen stand owners were there for him, but only when Naruto showed up to eat. As Naruto received the paper test from Iruka, he now remembered Tobirama's lessons about trust and sadly so, Hiruzen Sarutobi, his grandfather figure, could not be trusted completely. It certainly pained him to admit it, but it was the truth.

Releasing a sigh in dismay at the situation, Naruto turned his focus exclusively on the test.

Some of the questions were easy, others not so much, but Naruto went through them all, answering the easy ones fully and giving his best on the hard ones. He gave one last check on the answers he provided and even checked for hidden genjutsu. Surely, if Mizuki did it before to screw his education, then no doubt he would do it again to stop Naruto from graduating. Thankfully, his chakra was not tempered with, meaning this test was the real one. The shuriken and taijutsu tests were much easier and Naruto took advantage of those to even the odds in case his test scores weren't good enough. Instead of hitting the usual six out of ten, Naruto raised the bar, going for eight, surprising everyone at the constant improvement. He even managed to take the taijutsu fight the entire three minutes against Iruka. With everything done, all that remained was ninjutsu. Naruto stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki as he waited for the final instructions to finalize the graduation test.

"Okay Naruto, last part is ninjutsu. In order to pass, you must show us two perfect bunshins."

Naruto nodded and took his time while focusing on the specific hand seal. This time, he felt his chakra being tempered with and narrowed his eyes at such audacity. Iruka clearly had no clue and took the situation as Naruto being nervous about it. Naruto had to release the genjutsu or else he would fail the test. He had no way out, however. The genin-in-training was hoping to keep his skills a secret, but he had to dispel it. Still focusing on the ram hand sign, Naruto dispelled the illusion and one second later, two perfect bunshin appeared on each side. Iruka nodded in congratulations. Mizuki looked shocked at the speed between abilities, but grudgingly congratulated the newly graduated genin.

"Congratulations Naruto, here is your hitai-ate, wear it with pride." Naruto received it from Iruka and slightly bowed in respect. He didn't need to look at Mizuki to see the man's outraged expression. Naruto didn't bother to return to the classroom nor did he want to meet the other graduates outside. As soon as he left the classroom where he performed the bunshin, Naruto left the academy via shunshin.

* * *

**===Inside the Cave===**

* * *

Naruto wasted little time after the test and went inside the cave in order to meet his sensei. Once inside, he reported how the test went and told Tobirama about Mizuki's attempt in disrupting his ninjutsu test. Tobirama heard it all with a frown on his face. He really wished he could leave the cave and go teach this Mizuki a lesson. He figured that one single exploding tag would do the trick. Wishes aside, it was finally time to address a serious topic with his student.

"Naruto, regarding this subject, I advise you to report it straight to Saru."

Saru being the Sandaime's nickname. Sometimes, Naruto had to control himself not to call the Sandaime like that.

"I thought about that, but how could I explain that I know how to disrupt genjutsu. It's not a topic taught at the academy." Tobirama nodded pleased at his student's comment. It proved that the brat managed to think ahead. Indeed, Naruto's ability to dispel genjutsu would come as a surprise for Hiruzen, considering that as far as everyone was concerned, Naruto's sudden leap of skill was a simple consequence of Naruto dedicating to his studies. It was precisely for this reason that Naruto had never shown anything in the academy that wasn't a part of the school curriculum. Still, there was ways around that Naruto could exploit, simply stating to the Sandaime that he had been working on his chakra control and realized that it was messed up for unknown reasons. From that point on, it would be simply a case of figuring out the culprit. Iruka, according to Naruto, have never shown anything against the boy.

"Indeed, Saru would be suspicious. When reporting, simply tell him that you felt that your chakra control was being tempered for some reason. Do not say Mizuki's name. If I'm correct, you won't have to." Naruto nodded with a smirk on his face. If he played his cards right, then the Hokage would listen to him without Naruto having to reveal anything. Tobirama saw the prankster smile on his student and smiled in return. Nidaime always believed in the good side of pranking on shinobi. "Now Naruto, since you managed to graduate, I have a matter of great importance to talk to you." The prankster smile kept on for a while, but Naruto dropped it when he saw the water whip forming behind Tobirama, ready to call on his attention.

"Sorry, what is it?"

"Since you managed to graduate and have reached an acceptable level of my teachings, there is no more need for me to remain." Naruto's eyes widened, but Tobirama crossed his arms. "I've told you from the start that my being here had one single purpose. I have already bestowed upon you my legacy, my student and I'm sure you will only grow in time." Naruto could not control the tears that suddenly escaped from his eyes right now. Yeah, the man focused only on training. His water whips were also a pain in the ass to deal with, but for three whole years, Tobirama-sensei gave him so much. Naruto just could not fathom the possibility of never seeing the man's grumpy expression again.

"Why would you leave, Tobirama-sensei? I…you said it that it would take a while for me to master everything." A simple snort came in reply.

"I stated as such, sure. However, I also informed you that you've learned all the necessary basics of my legacy in order to perfect them in time. Now, lose those tears or you will know firsthand how truly frightening water ninjutsu can be." Naruto complied immediately, but he still looked at the man with pleading eyes. Now, the Nidaime released a sigh in order to explain further. "That won't mean, however, that you will be on your own from here on out. Throughout the time we've spent together, I have synthesized all my knowledge into the scroll you see behind me. The scroll is and will be available to your eyes only. I've placed a blood seal for this very purpose. If anyone ever attempts to open, the consequences to said person will be quite severe."

Naruto looked at the scroll and his eyes widened once more as he saw the scroll slowly closing. As such, Tobirama's essence began to waver. However, Naruto became startled when he saw a different smile.

"Naruto, since this is the last time we shall meet, allow me to say with great pride that you were the best student I ever had. Use the skills I taught you and the ones you will learn to protect Konohagakure." Naruto still cried, but he returned the smile with gratitude for everything they've been through. Naruto bowed at the man one last time and vowed to train hard and be of great service to the hidden village in the leaves. The scroll fully closed and Naruto listened the reverberating echo of the waterfall with a smile on his face. Quickly grabbing the heavy scroll, he left the cave towards his apartment, but not before he bowed one last time to the man, he came to respect even more than the Yondaime Hokage.

* * *

**===With the Hokage===**

* * *

Like Tobirama instructed, Naruto appeared before the Sandaime and told him about the events of his exam. He was there to take a picture of his shinobi file as well.

"So let me get this straight, Naruto-kun, when you had your ninjutsu test, you felt that your chakra was tampered with. And that despite it all, you managed to complete the technique to graduate." Naruto simply nodded at the conclusion, saying nothing else. He also kept his composure under Hiruzen's leveled stare. Strangely so, it looked similar to Tobirama's. Naruto silently mused that Hiruzen's actions as Hokage mirrored his predecessor. "This is a serious accusation Naruto-kun. So I must ask once more…are you certain of what you felt? I know you have improved greatly since our talk three years ago, but you do have a large chakra capacity."

Naruto felt the urge to scream at the man for the very reason he had a large chakra pool, but maintained a clear head. The old man was only being cautious.

"I am sure Jiji. Of all the techniques, I learned at the academy, the bunshin was by far the most problematic. I had to work extremely hard and it was still hard to produce less than ten copies. I had spent no less than six months reducing it one by one, until I could produce one bunshin. When I performed the technique in front of Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei, I felt the same as when I could only produce ten clones." Hiruzen kept the stare for a while, before he nodded at the kid. Surely, for someone with such large chakra capacity, producing two bunshin was the equivalent to a normal shinobi using medical ninjutsu. Releasing a sigh, he smiled to the boy.

"Okay Naruto, I don't doubt you. I will look into this matter. Now, it fills me with pride to see you graduating. No doubt, you worked hard and earned the headband."

"Thank you jiji. Just you wait and see...I will take that hat of yours in no time."

Hiruzen chuckled warmly, before seeing Naruto leave his office.

As soon as he heard the door closing, Hiruzen flared his chakra once, calling for his Anbu force hidden inside the office.

"_Tori_, assemble you squad and capture chunnin Touji Mizuki. Send him to Ibiki for questioning." The Anbu nodded and left the room. Hiruzen found Naruto's news troubling and only two people could have tampered with Naruto's exam, those being Iruka or Mizuki. Iruka's record was beyond reproach, as the man would constantly smile upon reporting on Naruto's improvement. Mizuki's record, on the other hand, was not entirely clean. Hiruzen feared that messing with Naruto's test scores was the least of the worries that was soon to come.

* * *

**===Next day===**

* * *

After delivering the hitai-ates to the genin, Umino Iruka went home in order to figure out the genin teams. He had to think long and hard in order to form cohesive genin units. If for instance Naruto became the dead last like he was three years ago, Iruka's job would be quite simple. Now, however, it seemed that it would be impossible to divide the genin, using a single mission spec in mind. Konoha had many types of missions, but all of them were combined into three major categories. Front-line fighting/escort, tracking/infiltration and demolition/interrogation. Many clan members who graduated this year were better suited for particular mission categories. Hyuuga, Inuzuka and Aburame members tended to be more efficient in tracking/infiltration, while Akimichi, Yamanaka and Nara members were more suited for demolition/interrogation.

Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino would form a nice team for tracking/infiltration.

Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru would form a nice team for demolition/interrogation.

Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto would form a team of front-line and escort.

This division took into account that the rookie of the year would form a team with the dead last and the best kunoichi. Now, since Naruto rose from dead last to the top ten students, Iruka had no other choice other than to mix the three teams. The other graduates were easier to form, hence why Iruka focused on the three teams. Sasuke became the rookie of the year and Haruno Sakura was the best kunoichi of his classroom. With that in mind, Iruka looked at the bottom of the classroom, those being Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba. There was no doubt in his mind that Shikamaru was a genius. The boy was so lazy, however, that he only placed enough effort to reach the minimal scores needed to pass. Inuzuka Kiba's grades showed more reality, hence why Iruka smiled upon forming the first team. No doubt, Kiba and Sasuke will be the front-line fighters and Sakura will act as support from long range.

Now, on to the rest.

Yamanaka Ino's set of skills would focus mainly on her clan techniques, meaning that she would need muscle to protect her. Akimichi Chouji would fit in nicely as those two knew each other since birth. The third member of this team would have to be someone who could act as the strategist and provide long-range support if needed be. Nara Shikamaru would fit the third spot, Iruka mused. For some reason, however, he could not move on to the last team. Sure, with Shikamaru, Iruka could formulate the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou team, a combination that had proven deadly for generations. However, Iruka could also see a good coordination in placing Aburame Shino with Ino and Chouji. The Aburame heir was actually the second best male student, behind Sasuke. Also, Iruka had worked plenty with Aburame clan members to know how they tended to act in missions.

Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto would form the third and last team. Hinata with the byakugan and the jyuuken would act as close range fighter. Naruto showed aptitude in both close and mid-range fighting. Shikamaru would fit in perfectly, being the strategist of the team and providing long-range support. Iruka knew that he would have to argue his case with the Hokage, but he was confident that the Sandaime would approve of the team selections.

After presenting the team choices to the Hokage, Iruka stood by only listening to the man's thinking noises as Hiruzen looked at the paper sheet in front of him.

"I'm curious Iruka-kun as to why you believe that Nara Shikamaru would fit better in a team with Naruto-kun and Hyuuga Hinata, instead of in a team with the Yamanaka and Akimichi members?"

"Indeed, it took me quite a while to make this decision Hokage-sama and if Naruto-kun had the scores from three years ago, I would certainly keep Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji together. Since Naruto raised his grades, and our rule of placing the rookie of the year with the dead last, I had to think outside the box. Instead of selecting the teams for different types of missions, I opted to select them to balance each other on the field." Hiruzen listened with a stern visage, silently processing the information. Iruka's thought process was correct in terms of balance, but the Hokage wondered if the concept was correct. Normally, the Hokage would require specific teams for specific missions. If a mission required infiltration, he would send a team specialized in infiltration. However, many times in the past, he witnessed teams that were ill prepared to handle themselves in case the unexpected happened.

Iruka saw the ghost of a smile forming on the Sandaime and released the breath he had no idea he was holding.

"I now see the merit of your decision Iruka-kun and I concur. Although our norm is to form specialized units, as per the Shodaime's teachings, we have a great number of missions that don't turn out as expected. The team must be well balanced. I'll be sure to explain this to Inoichi, Chouza and Shikaku-san. They stated their intents in having their offspring form the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou team. Now, I'll be assigning the jounin-sensei for the teams. I appreciate the fine job." Iruka beamed at the praise, before getting up from his seat. As he was about to leave the room, however, Sandaime called him back for a different manner.

"Something else you need from me Hokage-sama?" Sandaime nodded as the chunnin retook his seat.

"I'm afraid so Iruka-kun. Yesterday, I received a complaint from Naruto-kun that someone had tampered with his chakra during the ninjutsu test." Iruka's eyes widened at that, but he kept on listening. "As I'm sure your record is beyond reproach, I had conducted a subtle investigation regarding your fellow teacher, Mizuki. We found out that he had indeed attempted to ruin Naruto's chances of graduating by casting a subtle disorienting genjutsu on him. While Naruto was affected by it, he managed to perform the technique and passed." Hiruzen had found out quite a lot of Mizuki's misdeeds, but Iruka didn't need to know them. Iruka could not help but look to the ground in shame for not noticing this. Every time, Naruto would complain about unfairness and he would dismiss it because of the boy's prankster side. A side of Iruka believed that Mizuki would change in time, but…

"I should have seen Mizuki's actions Hokage-sama. I'm to blame for this situation." Hiruzen nodded.

"While it's true that you should have, the consequences were averted by Naruto-kun himself, so no harm was done to him at least. I trust that you shall pay close attention for now on." Iruka bowed in acknowledgement, before leaving the office. Even if Mizuki was in fact an agent from Orochimaru and had received training to rival jounin, Iruka was also a high-level chunnin and should have sensed Mizuki's chakra invading Naruto's. That thought aside, the fact that Orochimaru was after the kinjutsu scroll troubled the Sandaime. He needed to look into this fast. Quickly writing a letter, Hiruzen ordered it delivered immediately to the one responsible for running Konoha's spy network and member of the Sannin, Jiraiya.

Who better to spy on Orochimaru than the man's former teammate.

* * *

**===At the Academy===**

* * *

Two days passed since the genin test and those who graduated now stood inside the classroom waiting for Iruka-sensei to arrive. Everyone was busy chatting amicably, telling how excited they were at finally graduating. Naruto simply remained in his seat, wondering about things in general. He wondered if the Sandaime did something to Mizuki after his complaint. He wondered who his team would be and who would be his jounin-sensei. Above all, he wondered about his work ethic, now that he didn't have Tobirama-sensei to tutor him and arrange his training schedule. He did read the Nidaime's scroll last night and saw many skills he had to learn. Advanced water ninjutsu, new katas for both taijutsu and kenjutsu styles, genjutsu techniques, fuuinjutsu knowledge and space-time ninjutsu that Naruto could barely understand, outside the basics provided by the Nidaime.

For now, Naruto figured that taijutsu, kenjutsu and water ninjutsu took precedence. He needed to train his fuuton skills as well, but he wouldn't find much in the library. He could use a couple of genjutsu as well.

The rest he could figure out later. Fuuinjutsu and Space-time ninjutsu were too complex for him to attempt before reaching the level of chunnin. Naruto didn't bother to notice that some of his classmates were staring at him. He knew that people would notice his new uniform choice. There was a reason that Naruto chose to keep the same clothes all the time. He needed to be inconspicuous from the crowd, so as not to attract too much attention. Now that he graduated, he needed to wear something that was practical and would not hinder him in a mission. He focused on light colors so that the enemy would not spot his presence. His new outfit consisted of Anbu style boots and dark blue pants followed by a light green t-shirt. Dark blue forearms covered his wrists, completing his new wardrobe. The sword he received from the Sandaime was strapped on his waist. Said outfit would have cost him a fortune, had he not bothered to use a simple _Henge _to die his hair black and hide the whisker marks.

Naruto's wonderings ended as soon as Iruka entered the classroom and ushered everyone to shut up. Before he could begin, however, Sakura lifted her hand.

"Iruka-sensei, what happened to Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto perked at the question and looked at the man's eyes with a smile on his face. He didn't need to hear the answer to conclude what happened.

"Mizuki is otherwise occupied Sakura and won't be able to make it. Now, listen up all of you…to everyone here who now wear the Konoha headband, congratulations. All of you worked hard to become genin and I'm sure that you will only grow. Know that this is just the beginning of your careers, however. The academy's goal is to better prepare you for the shinobi life out there." Naruto had to snort at that, remembering what Tobirama thought about it. "With that out of the way, you'll be forming a three man cell team under the leadership of a jounin-sensei. I now shall announce the genin teams and the names of the jounin, so listen up. Team 1…" Naruto blocked the names out, until he would hear his name. It would be irrelevant to pay attention right now.

"Team 7 is composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba and Haruno Sakura. Your jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi." At the mention, Yamanaka Ino deflated on her desk while Haruno Sakura gloated.

"Team 8 is composed of Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino and Aburame Shino. Your jounin sensei is Yuhii Kurenai." Once more, Yamanaka Ino complained at having to be in a team with a guy who housed bugs.

"Team 9 is already in operation, so team 10 is composed of Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma." Naruto nodded at the names. Shikamaru was constantly on his tail following him around. Now that Naruto didn't need to hold back his skills, it was no problem. Of course, he would not use elemental ninjutsu for now, but he had taijutsu and kenjutsu to rely on most missions he would undertake. He had nothing against Hinata and fighting alongside a Hyuuga was a plus in his book. He did wonder about the name of his jounin sensei. Sarutobi Asuma meant that the jounin was related to the Sandaime Hokage.

After Iruka finished announcing the teams, he released everyone for lunch and telling them to come back in two hours to meet their jounin sensei.

Naruto saw Shikamaru mutter his favorite word and then walked up the class stairs to face Naruto.

"As troublesome as it is, I think it would be best if we had lunch together to learn about each other a bit more." Naruto nodded at the Nara clan member.

"Sure, what about you Hinata. Are you in?" The girl happened to be seating next to Naruto and blushed like a tomato at being addressed by her crush. Throughout the last three years of the academy, Hinata always tried to search for Naruto. Before, she was always able to follow him when he went to train or when he searched for the sights in Konoha. She considered herself weak and she had used Naruto's determination as a drive for her to feel better. Now as Naruto had improved greatly during the academy, she could not help but feel down. Sure, she was happy for him and all, but for some reason, she could no longer see the same qualities she saw back then. To her that Naruto died and another took his place. Looking at his eyes, Hinata could no longer see the glow that she was drawn to in the past. Now, the look resembled a more reserved and collected human being.

* * *

**===Ramen Stand===**

* * *

The newly formed team left the academy towards the ramen stand as per Naruto's suggestion. Shikamaru found it too troublesome to argue and Hinata didn't mind.

Once everyone ordered the respective dishes, Shikamaru turned to Naruto in order to study the troublesome blond for a good ten seconds. What he saw staggered him. Naruto's improvement at the academy was shocking enough, but this one before him had changed even more. His posture exuded confidence and he could see that the boy was always alert to his surroundings, even if Naruto appeared busy eating his noodles. The clothes' change was a bonus to the huge question mark inside Shikamaru's head. If it was one activity that Shikamaru enjoyed it was solving a mystery; something that even his high IQ could not solve right away. He needed to solve the riddle that was Uzumaki Naruto and he had found the first item to focus on.

"Say Naruto, what's with the sword? I had no idea you used one." Naruto finished eating and looked at Shikamaru before looking at the sword.

"It was a gift from the Sandaime Hokage after I managed to improve my grades. I've been practicing with it for two years now, I think. I just didn't bother to bring it to the academy, since I wouldn't use it."

"Quite impressive how you improved in such a short time. I almost dare say that you just pretended to suck at the beginning." Naruto released a long laugh at the comment. If only they knew…

"I did suck back then for sure. Back then, I had a long talk with the Sandaime and he explained to me that if I were to aim the Hokage position, it was imperative that I worked hard at the academy, you know, to master the basics. Let me tell you…at first, the academy books were like a foreign language to me. I had to purchase a dictionary just so that I could understand what the book said. Also, there was the fact about my chakra capacity…"

"W-what about your chakra?" This time it was Hinata who asked.

Naruto was laughing like a hyena from the inside. His sensei would be proud of him for directing the conversation.

"At first, when we started learning ninjutsu, the _Kawarimi _and the _Henge _became easy enough with practice. However, for the life of me, I couldn't perform the _bunshin_. It turned out that the reason I could not perform it was because I happen to have a large chakra capacity and not enough control. Because of this, I went to the Hokage for tips and he taught me how to improve my control. From that point on, with enough hard work, I managed to perform the technique and improve my grades. Funny isn't it?" Shikamaru merely frowned at the new information and wondered why neither of the teachers bothered to point this to Naruto. The academy measured the amount of chakra of all the students. He was about to ask Naruto more questions, when Naruto opened his mouth.

"But enough about me, though, tell me Shikamaru…how was it that your scores were so low? I found a history book in the library and it said the Nara Clan were known for their high intellect."

"Hm, it was too troublesome. I placed enough effort to pass. I don't have any qualms about showing off and I certainly don't aspire much in the future to really apply myself beyond the bare minimum."

"Wow, the book also said that the Nara Clan were known for their laziness, but I thought it was exaggerated." Hinata released a small giggle and Shikamaru's forehead showed a small vein at the comment. Even it was true, no book would ever say something like that. Naruto's laughter afterward only proved it was a joke. "What about you Hinata? I read a lot about the Hyuuga Clan as well. Your byakugan and jyuuken are quite feared huh? I can't wait to see it in action." Hinata blushed at the praise, while Shikamaru frowned. In this little conversation, Naruto showed a lot of knowledge regarding the clans in Konoha. He had no doubt that he knew about the rest as well.

"W-well, I'm not that good in the j-jyuuken as my cousin and my younger s-sister…" Naruto frowned at the response. He didn't realize that a Hyuuga knew _humility_.

"How come? I've seen your moves at the academy. Looks pretty great to me." Hinata blushed once more at the praise. To Shikamaru, was clear as well that Hinata's confidence in herself was lacking.

"I-I don't know…father always berates me in our practices." Naruto and Shikamaru looked at their teammate as she looked on the ground in sadness.

"Well, I still have doubts about that. I know what I saw after all." Hinata smiled at the comment, but the memory of her father was still fresh in her mind. Shikamaru observed from the sidelines for a while. Hinata needed to work on her confidence or else things will be quite troublesome to manage. The team finished the rest of their meals in silence, before paying the bill and returning to the classroom. It was time to meet their jounin sensei.

* * *

**===At the Academy===**

* * *

Once all the now graduated returned inside the classroom, Iruka took a moment to look at all of them and smiled soon afterward. He had high expectations for this generation. Hyuuga, Uchiha, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka, Akimichi and Nara clan. Each of these clans had one representative in this classroom. Aside from the clans, Iruka got wonderful students in both Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. He had no doubt in his mind that they would surpass everyone's expectations. Iruka took a couple of minutes to express his thoughts about the classroom, before saying that within minutes, the respective jounin senseis would arrive to collect the teams.

With that, Iruka bowed to everyone and left the room.

As Iruka said, little by little, different shinobi started to arrive in order to collect the genin teams. Five minutes later, Naruto looked up and saw two jounins entering the room together. The first one was a kunoichi and a very beautiful one at that. She was fairly petite and light-skinned woman of slender build. She had long, black, shoulder-length untamed hair and unique eyes that are red in color, with an additional ring in them. Naruto actually believed she was an Uchiha, based on observation alone. Her outfit consisted of a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. The second jounin was a shinobi and quite tall compared to the woman. He had brown eyes, short and black spiky hair and beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up half way, the standard jounin flak vest, regular shinobi sandals. He also wore what appeared to be a sash with the kanji for _Fire_ marked on it around his waist. He had a pair of black bangles and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves. Not to mention the uncanny resemblance to the Sandaime Hokage.

_So that's our sensei…interesting. _

"Jounin Yuuhi Kurenai, Team 8 you're with me, meet me in Training Ground 8 in half an hour." The woman next to Asuma announced, before vanishing in a shunshin.

"Jounin Asuma Sarutobi, Team 10 you're with me, meet me at the Barbeque Restaurant in twenty minutes." Asuma had also vanished via shunshin.

Both Team 8 and 10 got up and left the room, leaving only Team 7 to wait for their tardy sensei.

* * *

**===Barbeque Restaurant===**

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata watched as their appointed sensei ate his fair share of beef. Asuma had offered them lunch, but they had already ate before meeting with him. In the end, they settled for some tea.

"Alright then, now how about you all talk to me a little about yourselves. I have a grasp of your skills from the academy file, but I wish to get to know you better. Let's start with you Shikamaru."

The Nara member mumbled his favorite word at having to go first. He was content with saying the bare minimal.

"What do you wish to know exactly, Asuma-sensei?"

"Oh, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and anything you wish to share…"

"Huh…troublesome…well my name is Nara Shikamaru, I like watching clouds and playing shogi. I dislike excessive work and being nagged by my troublesome mother. My dream is to retire as a chunnin, find a wife that's not so troublesome to handle and settle down." Asuma could not help but chuckle upon seeing the boy's dream. Just like his father, Asuma mused. Naruto, instead, looked at his teammate with his mouth open. No drive whatsoever. To someone with enough stamina to train the entire day and not tire, Naruto found himself at a loss as he found his stamina nemesis. One thing for sure…Naruto would not allow Shikamaru to slack off…_oh how he wanted to use the water whip on him right now_.

"Okay, you can go next Naruto." Seeing his cue, the blond nodded.

"Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, training, shurikenjutsu and kenjutsu. I dislike the three minutes it takes to cook ramen. My dream for the future is to rise through the ranks, gather enough experience and become a Hokage just like the Nidaime." Asuma nodded with a smile on his face. He heard from his father how the boy aspired for the Hokage position and how much the boy talked about the Nidaime Hokage. Little did everyone know precisely why Naruto mentioned the Nidaime Hokage. Shikamaru, however, found the answer interesting. He remembered the boy worshipping the Yondaime Hokage three years ago. It must have something to do with his improvement all of a sudden.

"A nice dream you got there, Naruto. Ok last one…Hinata."

"O-oh, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like pressing flowers, zenzai and cinnamon rolls. I dislike those who look down on others and my dream is to unite the Hyuuga Clan." Asuma nodded, while lighting a new cigarette. Naruto already counted three since they arrived at the restaurant. He supposed that all members of the Sarutobi Clan enjoyed having a smoke here and there. The Sandaime did enjoy that pipe of his. Asuma released the pent-up smoke and Team 10 instantly coughed like crazy, earning a smirk from the sensei.

"Okay, now that we got to know each other, all of you are dismissed for the day. You are to meet me at Training Ground 10 for one more before you can be called genin." Asuma merely waited for the response.

"huh…troublesome." Shikamaru groaned in reply.

"Other test? What do you mean? We are not genin right now?" Now, Naruto entered into a completely different conversation. Asuma merely smiled and explained.

"The Academy test had one purpose only. It served to show which of you had the potential to become genin. It is up to the jounin sensei to determine whether you receive the title or not. The test will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." The genins nodded while Asuma paid for his tab. After that, the team left the restaurant and each went on their separate ways. The sun began to show its descent as Naruto reached his apartment. Tomorrow would be the first real test of his life and he could not wait. He could not show any sort of elemental manipulation. Naruto even felt he couldn't use the first techniques he learned either. Since he is not officially a genin, he wouldn't have an explanation as to how he knew those techniques. It wouldn't be a problem after he passed tomorrow, since he would have official access to the library. For now, only taijutsu, shuriken and kenjutsu, unfortunately.

Not to mention, abusing the _kawarimi_.

* * *

**Author Note**

Ok that's it for now. Please review.


	5. Genin Test

**Author Note**

Hello there, it's been a while but I'm back…at least with this story at least.

Last chapter it was a saddening moment for Naruto, but a necessary path. Experience is another part of training and that will only happen when Naruto start his missions. He has the basics in his mind and will learn the rest of the man's knowledge in due time. Furthermore, I believe that the readers approved of my choice concerning the teams and respective jounin-sensei. Now, without further a due, as I don't like to keep the readers waiting, let's start the chapter.

Good reading!

* * *

**Chapter 5 -Genin Test**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

When the next day started, Naruto was already inside the famous cave when he spent three years training under the Nidaime Hokage's guidance. After leaving the barbeque restaurant yesterday, Naruto went straight home in order to check the scroll and figure out a suitable schedule. Senju Tobirama listed a great load of water ninjutsu of all types and uses. Long range…short range…defensive…offensive…supplementary. For now, Naruto had a good arsenal of techniques. He knew one defensive technique, three offensive ones and one supplementary. The boy smirked at the nostalgic memory of when he learned the _Suirou no Jutsu _(Water Prison Technique_). _His petulant self complained about not learning something cooler, so Tobirama used a couple of water whips to silence him. Admittedly, so, the technique's use was limited. One had to use it in close range and catch the enemy by surprise.

Of course, Nidaime taught him ways of using the technique more effectively. The Kage Bunshin could hide and wait for the enemy to pass by his location. The original could even lead him to the position.

After looking at the list of water jutsus, Naruto had picked another one to train. He had to meet his team in three hours. Therefore, it would be one hour of water manipulation practice, followed by half an hour of jutsu practice followed by one and a half hour of physical exercise composed of ken and taijutsu. The technique he picked was called _Suiton Hahonryuu (Water Release: Tearing Torrent Technique). _After reading the description, Naruto realized it had plenty of similarities with one of the water manipulation exercises. The jutsu consisted in gathering water in a spiral, using one's hand. The exercise, he remembered, required him to swirl the already existing water. Now it was all a matter of applying the same concept, but not before manifesting water on his hand. Naruto was not at the Nidaime's level yet, hence why he had to concentrate.

Kneeling on top of the lake, Naruto closed his eyes. Extending his chakra throughout the water source, Naruto began to reach for the water molecules that hovered in the air. In no time, the once invisible molecules started to appear in front of him like rain droplets hovering in the air. When the boy felt comfortable with the amount, he opened his eyes and smiled at the scene before him. It always amazed him to see the cave filled with water droplets. It made him miss his sensei even more. He still remembered the man standing behind him with his arms crossed and a stern visage. Going through the hand seals at a moderate pace, Naruto began to feel his own chakra molding into the technique.

_Suiton Hahonryuu (Water Release: Tearing Torrent Technique)_

Unlike the scroll's description, however, the water swirl took much longer than necessary and it didn't have the necessary cohesion to pose a threat to the enemy. Naruto immediately stopped his concentration. Tobirama-sensei always told him to learn his own movements first to see if they were the correct ones. It meant that if you were doing it the wrong way, simply repeating it will show the same result. Rather than attempting by trial and error, it was required of the blond to analyze exactly what went wrong, correct it and try again. Sure, Naruto could even summon some help from his clones, but since he had yet to grasp the technique, it would still be useless. Going about his first attempt, he recapitalized on the fact that this was in fact his first attempt on a B-ranked technique used in conjunction with the Nidaime's method of using the water molecules. As such, it was extremely difficult to do both at the same time.

Deciding to perform the technique using the water inside the cave, Naruto realized it was much easier. It wasn't complete, but it sure was better than the first attempt.

His clones certainly could perfect the technique now, while he move on with the physical aspect of his training. Of course, it would be more prudent to learn the technique like the Nidaime did. It would be more useful in the field, considering that he wouldn't need a nearby water source. However, he had enough time to learn it properly. After some stretches, the recently graduated genin went through the katas he learned under Tobirama-sensei. He would mix it up with the Shodaime's style as per his sensei's instruction. Surely, no one would know about Tobirama's style, save for the Sandaime and Kosuke. That didn't mean that Naruto could perform it without any risk. By mixing it up, the style would be a new one and thus allow Naruto to use his full taijutsu capabilities. Naruto even decided to use some moves from the academy to lower the possibility of being questioned.

As soon as he punched the wall and made a small dent at it, Naruto heard a different noise echoing throughout the cave, the sound of steps.

Two days ago, he would have freaked out at the possibility of someone else seeing the Nidaime here training him. Now, however, it was irrelevant and said thought saddened Naruto greatly.

"Oh it's you Naruto-kun. What are you doing here?" Naruto saw old man Kosuke approaching with the traditional smile on his face.

"Kosuke-ochan, how are you? I found this cave a long time ago when I was searching for hidden waterfalls. I found it's a nice place to train so I come here every day now."

The man nodded still with a smile on his face.

"Well, Naruto-kun, you did find a place in the village's history." Naruto's puzzled look was expected, so the man continued. "This cave happened to be our esteemed Nidaime Hokage's favorite. I remember coming here close to forty years ago when he decided to teach me a couple of his techniques." Kosuke stopped talking when he inspected the fissure on the wall courtesy of a well-practiced taijutsu strike, not something he would have expected from someone who had just graduated. "You sure is dedicated Naruto-kun. I can see that." Naruto nodded with a smile on his face, silently thankful that Kosuke only came inside when he stopped his _suiton_ practice.

"Thanks Ochan…I do want to become Hokage you know. I'm just doing some exercises before I have to meet with my team for another test."

"Oh yes…I remember…so who is your jounin-sensei?"

"Sarutobi Asuma is his name; don't know much about him except that he looks a lot like Sandaime-jiji." Naruto said as he returned to his practice in taijutsu followed by shuriken throwing. Tobirama always taught him that the best way to train was to picture yourself against imaginary opponents. Obviously, it would not be the same as practicing against an actual shinobi, but it allowed Naruto to understand different scenarios and adapt his skills accordingly. Kosuke seemed engrossed in nostalgic memories, though, so Naruto kept on training until it was time to meet with his team. He quickly gathered the tools he used inside the cave and appeared in front of Kosuke.

"Sorry Kosuke-ochan, but I need to get going." The elder looked at the blond and nodded with the usual smile.

"Good luck out there Naruto-kun and remember…never forget what our shinobi's main base of strength is." Naruto blinked once, trying to understand it, before a determined smile appeared.

Oh, he understood that alright…he heard the same thing from both the Nidaime and the Sandaime on multiple occasions. He sprinted away from the cave towards the training ground where his sensei and probably his teammates are waiting for him. When he arrived at the training ground, he was surprised to see everyone already there, but he couldn't have been late. It was barely past eight o' clock. He calmly approached the training ground, taking a silent look throughout the sight in anticipation of whatever assignment his new sensei would propose. This training ground had many trees to work with, he reasoned. Not to mention plenty of leaves and tree logs for him to utilize while fighting.

Asuma was quietly talking with Shikamaru when the man looked up towards the late comer.

"About time you appeared Naruto. I was already thinking that something happened." Naruto nodded apologetically.

"Forgive me Asuma-sensei…it's just that every day I created a routine training of sorts." Both his teammates looked at him at that. They were being tested right now and Naruto would waste energy training. "Plus, I actually thought that Shikamaru would be the last one here so I believed I had more time." The genin in question snorted and crossed his arms. He openly complained about his troublesome mother and her constant nagging. He actually got here earlier just to avoid her altogether. Hinata giggled at her teammates while Asuma smiled as well. He, of course, knew a lot about who wore the pants inside the Nara residence and certainly it was not Shikamaru's father, Shikaku.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let us begin." The genin all stood at attention as the man spoke. "For today's test, you three shall face me in battle. There is one rule to this test. You must hit me at least three times. Also, even if the chance of a genin even touching a jounin is slim to none, in the event that only one of you completes the task, it won't count. I won't say anything else." The three genin, if possible, blinked at the same time, obviously with many questions left unanswered. "So then, let us begin…you have three hours to finish the test…starting now." As soon as Asuma said so, he charged at the closest one, greatly surprising Shikamaru and Hinata. Of course, Asuma would not use jounin speeds for this, but he didn't need to. Naruto immediately narrowed his eyes at the incoming opponent and initiated his strategy. Asuma managed to land a kick on Naruto, but was surprised when a log appeared instead.

Hinata and Shikamaru immediately fell on the ground. That took less than a second.

"What the hell, sensei?"

Naruto screamed from behind one of the trees. Asuma smirked at the outrage, silently praising the kid's fast use of kawarimi. He had seen chunnin take longer.

"I never said I would give you three time to prepare nor did I say that I would not attack. Nonetheless, I guess it would be fair considering you guys have yet to undertake missions. That being said, you guys will have ten minutes to formulate a suitable strategy. When the time is up, I'll be coming after you so you better be ready, Shikamaru and Hinata." The Nara heir mumbled 'troublesome' repeatedly and Hinata looked fearfully at the man and his casual behavior despite his brutal assault on Naruto. In no time, though, the three genin vanished from their location, earning a smile from Asuma who lit up a cigarette while waiting. In the meantime, the team gathered around.

"What the hell was that, Naruto? How did you move so fast?" Shikamaru looked at the blond kid in front of him.

"I thought you were a genius Shikamaru…all I did was a simple _kawarimi." _Shikamaru simply frowned at the comment.

"I practiced it a lot, so it became like second nature to me."

"Shikamaru, we only have ten minutes to come up with something." Shikamaru frowned at Hinata's comment. The Naruto enigma was troublesome enough without him suddenly displaying even better skills than he showed at the academy. Hinata was right however. Right now, figuring out Asuma's test took priority. Shikamaru didn't need two seconds to realize that neither of them could attack Asuma alone. The man's first attack demonstrated that alright. Obviously, they needed to attack him together if they hoped to pass. Figuring that out was the easy part; now came the part when they formulated an actual battle plan that not only would keep the man away but also attack him three times. He looked at the two in front of him and released a sigh in dismay.

"Okay, I think I have an idea." Hinata and Naruto heard the idea and nodded. For Naruto, it would be a nice test.

When the time ended, Asuma threw away his cigarette and began his search on those three. So far, he considered their abilities to hide at least tolerable, even if he was able to find Hinata and Shikamaru. He was about to extend his senses to find Naruto when a couple of shuriken flew at his left side, coming at him at great speeds. The chain smoker jounin frowned at the precision of the projectiles. Using chunnin skills, he evaded them, before blocking an incoming kick from Naruto. He was ill prepared for such taijutsu level, but he held his ground against the slowly building mystery in front of him. From what he observed from Naruto's stance, it focused on agility, but his arm felt considerable power behind the strikes. The entire dance took five minutes and Naruto was not showing signs of slowing down, showing great stamina for a kid. Naruto managed to evade an incoming kick and Asuma managed to press on the advantage until he saw a couple of shuriken and kunai come at him from multiple directions. Naruto took the opportunity and unleashed his sword to attack Asuma at the same time.

The jounin evaded it all but cursed as soon as he saw a shadow beam stretching to his position. Using a quick shunshin, confident that he would lose them, Asuma had to use a kunai to block Naruto's shuriken. The movement alone caught the man by surprise and the shuriken bounced off his kunai, slightly nipping his arm. So surprised was the bearded jounin that he almost received a jyuuken strike on the chest. _Damn, these kids…_Asuma thought with an amused expression on his face at almost getting caught twice in a row and by green genin at that. Naruto sure demonstrated skills that did not belong to a genin. Shikamaru certainly was the one who came up with the idea and Hinata's movements were better than he expected them to be. He guessed it was time to spice things up a bit, he thought.

One thing was certain…he was having a good time already.

* * *

**===In a different location===**

* * *

Different from Naruto's training location, the eternal genin Kosuke took solace in a place where no one would bother him, while he prepared some lunch. The only company he had so far were the trees that the Shodaime first brought to Konoha. Not many in the village knew about this piece of history, he mused. Said man created the entire landscape of the village, but these very trees were rather special. The esteemed Senju Hashirama created these trees as a gift to his wife Uzumaki Mito, upon their marriage. Each of these trees carried the Shodaime's chakra and every time Kosuke came here, he would remember just what it meant to be on the presence of that man. It brought a nostalgic feeling to the man who had probably seen more than many in Konoha. With a smile at the memory, the man sliced the nutrients inside his bowl and then poured some hot water for his trademark stew recipe.

Of course, the amount he was preparing was enough for his new guest, hence Kosuke didn't even need to look up to see the Sandaime approaching.

"Fancy meeting you here, Kosuke." Hiruzen said as he took a seat at the rock in front of the eternal genin.

"Ah Sandaime-sama, lovely of you to visit little old me. Please take a seat and I'll serve you a dish if you like." The elder Hokage nodded with a smirk as he accepted the plate with gusto. Kosuke was a splendid shinobi, but the man was an even better chef. For a while, both elderly ate their respective dishes in a comfortable silence, both of them reminiscing on the very place they both were and which person this place reminded them of. After one repetition, Sandaime returned the dish to Kosuke, thanking for the meal. He calmly watched as Kosuke took the dishes to the nearby stream and washed them clean. After the lunch was finished, Kosuke took a seat in front of the Sandaime for the chat that was soon to follow.

"I take it…you've been chatting with young Naruto-kun." Kosuke nodded with the trademark smile on his face. Sandaime did have that ball of his after all.

"Yeah, we had quite the entertaining conversation every now and then. He would ask questions about the past Kages and even some missions that I went alongside you and them. I can see the glow in his eyes when I spoke." Sandaime nodded with a smile on his face. "It appears, however, that in telling him those stories, I ended up inspiring the kid more than necessary. Every time I saw him his clothes were ragged and there were a few visible bruises."

"Well…his growth in the academy is nothing short of surprising, according to his teachers. I even dare say that he even held back."

"Oh…"

"Ever since he improved, his teacher noticed that Naruto would sometimes miss a few shuriken throws on purpose. When he took the genin test, whereas before he managed six out of ten throws, he surprised everyone by hitting two more. He couldn't have trained in advance because the last time he practiced was two days before the test." Kosuke thought deeply at the revelation. That kid always seemed quite smart…smarter than Kosuke thought he was. _So sly of you Naruto-kun. _Sandaime looked at the change of expressions on his old friend's face and frowned. This subject left Hiruzen in great doubt about his grandson figure.

"Would you know something about it, Kosuke?"

"Well, it maybe old school thinking here, but I believe that Naruto's intentions were similar to how you and I grew up, Hiruzen. If he demonstrated everything he can do, then everyone would know that. Perhaps that sly fellow has a few skills that he isn't comfortable in sharing just yet. Who's to say really, huh? It's quite exciting, don't you think. Perhaps he has learned elemental ninjutsu…perhaps he is training genjutsu techniques…quite a mystery this fellow Uzumaki Naruto…just like his father." Hiruzen frowned at the thought of Naruto keeping secrets, but he couldn't help but reminisce on the times when one Namikaze Minato began to show one technique after the other, first the _Rasengan_ and then the _Hiraishin_. Hiruzen remembered the look of pride in his student upon witnessing what a legend the Yondaime became at the third great ninja war.

"Those were different times back then…but I guess I can't fault young Naruto-kun if he in fact is either holding back or hiding his skills."

Kosuke smiled as he looked up at the sun.

"I believe the lad is currently taking his test with his sensei, right?" Hiruzen grunted in affirmative. If Naruto was in fact hiding his skills at the academy, then the little brat would certainly catch his son by surprise.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

* * *

The test progressed nicely with Team 10 using considerable teamwork to attempt a second hit on the bearded jounin. After the first one, it appeared that the man decided to increase his speed a bit more. This time, however, both Shikamaru and Hinata were more alert. The strategy remained the same with Shikamaru using long-range support. Naruto and Hinata faced the man up close. Of course, Hinata could not keep up with him for long, meaning that Naruto had to cover for her more than actually attacking him. He remembered what Kosuke said to him before the test. A side of him frowned at the prospect of having to protect a teammate instead of fulfilling a goal, but the other side of him remembered the Nidaime's teachings followed by a bunch of water whips. Hinata didn't have the same level of training he had, so it was obvious that she would have trouble against chunnin level speeds.

With that in mind, Naruto began to process his strategy based on the moves he could do without Asuma getting suspicious. Aside from the regular three ninjutsu, he could only use taijutsu and…

Yeah, Asuma wouldn't know what hit him.

Asuma saw the shadow closing in on him and evaded that, as well as Naruto's coordinated shuriken. He then focused on dodging Hinata's jyuuken strikes with an amused expression. These three worked well together and he could see that they also had good individual skills. After pushing Hinata back, he looked back in surprise to see two Narutos attacking him at the same time. The surprise lasted only a second, before he simply stood still waiting for the attack to come. As he suspected, both Narutos passed through him, indicating the use of a simple _bunshin. _The surprise, however, returned when he noticed another Naruto, the real one this time, on the other side of him, with a ninjato in his hand about to slice his head off. Asuma cursed at the brat for being caught a second time. He increased his speed and parried the sword strike with one of his trademark trench knives. The noise of weapons clashing echoed in the clearing as Asuma locked weapons with his soon to be student. Asuma was not able, however, to block a couple of shuriken that came from his back, forcing him to use a fast _kawarimi _to escape.

"Damn it…troublesome" Naruto heard Shikamaru complain from a nearby bush. The blond could not help but see humor in the pineapple-head's expression when he said that word.

"There is no need for that Shikamaru…I will count those as two hits, meaning you three passed my test." Asuma said coming from another bush nearby. "Now gather around for I have a few words of wisdom".

Asuma could see three different looks. Shikamaru was the most obvious…relief. The man mused that Shikamaru's relief had something to do with his mother. Hinata's look was one of joy. Asuma remembered that he needed to speak to her father about him becoming her jounin sensei. Personally, he cared little for such politics. He knew that it mattered little to Shikamaru's father, but Hyuuga Hiashi was a different story. A powerful shinobi but an even more powerful politician. _Finally_ yet importantly, he memorized the blond enigma's expression. His expression hadn't changed much. He could see some hints of determination, but not joy like Hinata or relief like Shikamaru.

_His dream was to rise through the ranks, he said. Perhaps, he is already looking ahead. _Asuma thought as the now _genins _said around the big man.

"Alright, as I said before, you guys are now members of Team 10. You all impressed me with a considerable level of teamwork. Even your individual skills are worth mentioning, which is good since you all just graduated from the academy. For now, we will assume a simple schedule. We will meet here every day at the same time to train. Throughout the fight, I noticed areas you need to improve, so we will focus on that amongst other things of course. After training, we shall take missions; I am guessing two missions per day just to get you all started." All three genins nodded, earning a smile from the bearded jounin. He had a feeling these guys would be an even better team once he had his way with them.

"Now, all of you are dismissed for today. See you all tomorrow. And Naruto, please stay for a moment." Naruto nodded, saying his goodbyes to a smiling Hinata and a frowning Shikamaru.

The Nara heir couldn't help but suspect that something was off with him. Perhaps he could ask his father about it and see what he had to say.

Asuma and Naruto now stood alone in the training ground.

"Naruto, I asked you to stay behind, because unlike Shikamaru and Hinata, you don't have a family to rely on…" The saddened look caught the man by surprise, before he realized that he could have rephrased that in a more tactful manner. "Sorry about that…it came out wrong…what I meant to say is that when it comes to training, Hinata and Shikamaru will either be training with us or with their clans. You will be training only with me, so I will be focusing more on your skills than them. Also, if you have any doubts about something, feel free to ask me anything, okay?" The blond nodded enthusiastically, before getting up from the ground, dusting his clothes a bit.

"Ok Asuma-sensei, I understand."

"Also, Naruto, from what I have seen from your fight, it's my understanding that you didn't perform like this at the academy, am I right?" Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment at being caught. It's not like he used any of the techniques he knew, so Asuma only had seen his taijutsu, kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu. The bearded jounin smiled at his student and nodded. "There is nothing wrong in what you did, Naruto. Quite the opposite in fact. Indeed it is not wise to show everything you can do in a fight, except in cases of life and death. That being said, I do have to ask…are you still hiding your skills?" Naruto had talked enough with the Nidaime to know when someone was fishing for information. He knew easily what to do in order to keep his sensei satisfied. Naruto would not tell the whole truth, just a fraction of what he trained in under the Nidaime would be enough for Asuma.

"Well, I've trained a lot throughout the academy, sensei. I had many problems in controlling my chakra, so aside from what I displayed today, I also have trained a lot in chakra control. I found a scroll in the library detailing some advanced exercises and I learned tree and water walking." The jounin worked his brain for two seconds to remember if said material was accessible to academy students, but he had drawn a blank. That thought aside, it was impressive.

"That's quite impressive…" Asuma for some reason became giddy at the prospect of training a genius. "That will certainly aid us in your ninjutsu and dare I say genjutsu training, if you want it. For now, we shall focus on getting you up to speed in taijustu and kenjutsu. Your moves are solid from what I could see, so we will just keep practicing it. Even if you trained a lot like you said, there is no better training then fighting against real opponents. You'll be sparring with both me and your teammates on a regular basis. I could even get you to spar with others, but we'll cross that bridge later on. Any questions?" Naruto simply negated with a smile.

"Nope, everything's fine Asuma-sensei. I have to say, though, I'm quite eager for the missions tomorrow."

Asuma smirked at the comment. Naruto's excitement will surely end once he learns what type of missions they will have tomorrow. After saying goodbye to his student, Asuma left in a shunshin towards the Hokage's Office in order to report on his team passing, leaving Naruto alone in the clearing. With a smile, Naruto did the same thing towards his own apartment. Today, he figured it was high time he learned a genjutsu technique. To this day, the only aspect he trained in genjutsu is the concept behind both illusion casting and disruption. Nidaime taught him how to manipulate his chakra in order to disrupt the opponent's chakra. He also taught Naruto ways of interpreting and dispelling the illusion. Now, it was up to Naruto to learn the actual techniques. Nidaime's repertoire of genjutsu was rather limited compared to the others. The man may have been an all-around shinobi, but he had the areas he enjoyed focusing on more…genjutsu was not one of them.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's Office===**

* * *

All the jounin sensei had just reported on their respective teams.

As per usual, the index of graduated students repeated with only three teams passing; Team 7, 8 and 10. The rest either were not ready to become genin or did not have the right mentality. The only out of the ordinary event was that one of the three teams were passed by a man to whom people believed would never pass a team. The Hokage believed it would be a good thing that Kakashi became a jounin sensei. However, it has been two or three years since he left Anbu and still nothing had come from it. The man had failed each and every genin team he came across, every time with the same excuse…that they lacked teamwork. This time, however, he passed one team, but Asuma believed it had something to do with the fact that one of the team members had the sharingan and Kakashi would be the only one equipped to teach him, overall.

Now he was sitting in front of his father, enjoying a cup of tea while chatting amicably.

"Chakra control you say?"

Asuma nodded as his old man repeated what he had just said about one Uzumaki Naruto and how much better he performed than what he displayed at the academy.

"About his problem with chakra control, I'd say it was nice that he thought about it, but for me…I don't know…it seems rather convenient."

Hiruzen nodded in contemplation.

"My thoughts exactly…an increase in chakra control sure could have allowed him to fight more efficiently, but no academy student would think that far ahead. Not by himself anyway and he even said that he found a scroll with both chakra control exercises in the library." Asuma nodded, confirming his father's question. The silence allowed the seasoned Hokage to ponder on this enigma for a moment. For some reason, Naruto was keen on hiding his full capabilities. That in itself posed the million-dollar question. Why exactly? For what Hiruzen remembered, Naruto had this exuberant personality and couldn't contain his tongue in Hiruzen's presence, telling him everything. The lad started changing pretty much the same time his grades had improved in the academy, which meant that whatever happened to him, it was back then. The one thing Hiruzen was afraid of was not that _something _happened to Naruto, but rather _someone. _

As great as his improvement at the academy was, the fact that Naruto of all people focused on chakra control was mind-blowing. He would expect such discipline from a chunnin, not from an academy student.

Meaning that perhaps someone pointed him in said direction.

"You're spacing out on me, old man. What are you thinking?" Hiruzen blinked once and looked at the amused expression of his eldest son.

"I'm considering the possibility of Naruto receiving training by someone and that it started three years ago." Asuma frowned. Of course, it was not forbidden for a shinobi of Konoha's corps to be interested in an academy student and thus give him or her a couple of tips or even outright focus on training. The problem relied in the fact that the Hokage not knowing anything about it, especially considering Naruto's tenant. Because of the fox being inside of him, any sort of training would have to take it to consideration. Certainly, the Hokage needed to keep tabs if someone decided to help the village's jinchuuriki.

"Do you have a name in mind?" Hiruzen shook his head.

"I know that Kosuke sometimes talk with Naruto on occasion, but he would know better than to train Naruto without at least telling me about it." Asuma knew a bit about said man, known as the eternal genin. He knew that the only reason the man remained a genin for that long was because of a failed mission a long time ago when the Nidaime ruled Konoha. The man's skills were easily jounin-level. He could have supplied Naruto some tips.

"Well, he could have taught Naruto about chakra control exercises, so Naruto's story would match." Asuma pondered out loud, earning a contemplative nod from Hiruzen.

"Perhaps you're right…though I still believe that Naruto is more capable than what he shows. I can't allow instinct to guide my decisions, but so far my instinct is all I'm counting on here."

"What do you want me to do then?" Asuma at times was afraid of asking said question to the village leader. After all, the man was obligated to make decisions that could affect the village. If the Hokage perceived a threat, then he would ask one of his jounin to handle the situation. Asuma simply stood there waiting for a response anxiously at the possibility of his father deciding that perhaps one Uzumaki Naruto could become a potential threat to the village.

"For now, just keep your eyes open…considering that both his teammates will receive training from their clans, you will focus more on his training than the others." The young Sarutobi nodded. He had said that to Naruto. "Depending on the material you decide to teach him, it's possible that he secretly already knows. Nevertheless, if he's keen on hiding what he knows, then he will act as if he doesn't, but I'm sure it won't take long for him to show a complete exercise." Asuma looked at his old man as if the man had grown a second head.

"Do you really believe that something as far ahead for an academy student, even a genin at that, such as elemental ninjutsu could already be under his grasp?" Hiruzen let out a snort at that.

"From what you told me…he had displayed prowess in taijutsu, kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu. He even told you that he mastered both tree walking and water walking chakra control exercises. If he were a seasoned genin, I would say that finding his affinity and teaching him elemental ninjutsu would be right up his alley of skills. It's not a farfetched notion, Asuma. If he is indeed receiving training from someone, then it's hard to believe that he would drill Naruto in chakra control and _not _bombard the kid with ninjutsu." Asuma found himself nodding at every word. With Naruto's chakra capacity and his now considerable chakra control, Naruto could become a ninjutsu specialist in no time.

"I understand what you're saying Tou-san and I will keep my eye on him. But tell me…what is it that you're more concerned about?" Hiruzen found that his son asked the best question of the night.

"Whoever is training him doesn't believe that I should be made aware of it. I can count only one individual in Konoha that does things behind my back." Asuma did shudder at that as one name stood out instantly.

_Shimura Danzou_

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

* * *

Not knowing that he was a topic of discussion, after appearing inside his apartment, Naruto decided to have dinner before jumping for the Nidaime's scroll. A part of him wondered if revealing something to his sensei was the logical choice. Naruto was tutored by a Kage, but it was illogical of him to assume that he could simply fool a jounin so easily. At least not without telling the man at least something to satisfy his curiosity. There is no way Naruto could explain the way he moved and the speed in which he moved. Chakra control was the answer given, considering what Senju Tobirama explained it to him when he was training. He kept the third chakra control exercise hidden as a trump card, in case Asuma decided to ask him questions once more.

Moving on, with his ramen by his side, Naruto opened the scroll on his table and checked the first genjutsu technique listed.

_Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu _(Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique)

According to the scroll, it was a low-level genjutsu that focused on tricking the opponent into mistaking the place he was in for another. Of course, the use was rather limited in an open battlefield, but in close quarters, it could be highly effective. After about fifteen minutes of reading, Naruto felt nostalgic. He felt this way every time he read Tobirama's scroll. Every time he read, he would imagine himself sitting inside the cave while the man lectured him about a technique or two. Even better, the man would explain the theory in much detail, going as far as to run different battle scenarios. Tobirama did so in order to _teach experience_ as the man put it occasionally. The scroll before him was no different, hence why every time Naruto read it, he could feel as if the very Nidaime Hokage was in front of him with his arms crossed and grumpy attitude.

Naruto missed the man like crazy…but he sure would not miss those damn water whips of his. With a nostalgic smile, Naruto returned to the scroll and read the passage with great attention. Right in front of him was the Nidame Hokage's legacy and he would be damned if he didn't master it all to the utmost perfection.

* * *

**===With Shikamaru===**

* * *

Nara Shikamaru came home right after the team test and his face was one of deep contemplation. Both his parents were busy discussing something in the kitchen when he opened the door. Yoshino was about to ask about the test when she saw the look on her son's face. Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, had seen that look only once. They both knew their son was an intellectual genius and there was not much in the academy that came close to making Shikamaru struggle to understand. His son had just came back from Asuma's test. Shikaku doubted that his son had failed the exam, which meant that whatever was now troubling his young mind became a mystery.

"So how was the test?" Shikamaru looked up from his wonderings and found his parents there staring at him.

"It was the most troublesome experience of my life, that's for sure." Shikaku lifted his eyebrow in question as Shikamaru explained his perplexity, starting from the academy and finishing with the exam. Both his parents looked at him dumbfounded, since this was the longest monologue they had heard from Shikamaru since forever. He always found that talking and long explanations were troublesome and not worth his precious relaxation time. Eventually so, his parents understood their son's plight. However, at least in Shikaku's analytical and ten times more experienced mind, the answer was obvious. So obvious that he wondered why it bothered his lad so much.

"Based on what you're telling me, I'd say that Naruto did the same thing you did at the academy, Shikamaru."

The young Nara blinked a couple times, looking at his father incredulously.

"You mean…he was only showing enough to pass…" Shikamaru came up with this idea because he didn't care two cents about the Academy workload. As such, he demonstrated only enough skill to reach the minimal average necessary. Naruto, however, was an entire different story. Sure, as his father said, Naruto did the same thing he did. He would only show enough skills to become amongst the middle rank of the classroom. While Shikamaru was lazy, Naruto was the complete opposite.

"Why did he, though?" Shikaku's throat sound while drinking some tea indicated that he pondered on Shikamaru's question. In actuality, the Nara Clan always positioned themselves in state of neutrality concerning the village jinchuuriki's status. As such, he would constantly hear two parties arguing in council sessions, the Hokage and Shimura Danzou. The latter would constantly undermine Naruto's current skillset and demand Hiruzen to give the jinchuuriki to his care so that he could train Konoha's weapon. The Hokage would have none of it and denied Danzou's request every time. Those discussions ended however as soon as Naruto's surprisingly improved grades reached the council's knowledge. Danzou still wished for Naruto, but his demands diminished with time, until he stopped talking about it. In fact, if Shikaku recalled, the last time it was six months ago.

"Perhaps, he believed that it was wise not showing his full capabilities. I could remember a lot of shinobi in our corps that did the same thing…Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi comes to mind." Shikamaru remembered the first name as one of the jounin sensei and the other being the one responsible for the Uchiha genocide. For his father to compare Uzumaki Naruto with those two, it only helped to increase the troublesome that is his blond teammate.

"Whatever…I had enough for today…I'm going to bed."

Tomorrow his ninja career will begin and he had a feeling it will be a complete drag.

Little did he know about the wonders of D-ranked missions.

* * *

**Author Note**

I'll stop right here for the moment. So what you think? Like it…hate it! Please review.


	6. Rivalry

**Author Note**

Hi there and welcome to another chapter.

I am thrilled that everyone enjoyed this story, based on the amount of followers/reviewers so far. Thus far, this story has already 627 reviews – 2.066 favorites – 2.342 followers. That is indeed impressive and I appreciate all of you. I now reached an average of 100 reviews per chapter, which is awesome. Once again, I appreciate everyone for the support. I just hope that I keep your interest where my choices for this plot is revealed. Well, here is next chapter, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Rivalry**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

It was already late in the night when one Uzumaki Naruto opened the door to his apartment, before allowing himself to breathe properly.

Switching the lights on, one detail on his person revealed itself. He was severely bruised and every step he took, a slight moan of pain was released. All the genin wanted right now was to crash on his bed as he allowed his high regeneration powers – Kyuubi – to work its magic. The day today started out like any other day for the last four weeks after his team passed Asuma-sensei's genin test. His team would meet every day at Training Ground 10. He woke up a couple hours earlier than the meeting date, so that he could get some hidden training done; mostly chakra intensive exercises like chakra control, ninjutsu and genjutsu. He would leave the physical workout to his team training, since it would be prudent to spar against his team or even Asuma-sensei as opposed to battling his clones the entire time.

After a couple spars with the team, Asuma-sensei would take the team to the Hokage's Office for a D-ranked mission.

When Naruto learned about the nature of those, he became frightened. He allowed his vivid imagination to run its course, picturing how one Nidaime Hokage would react upon hearing about what it entailed. Of course, D-ranked missions - or chores as Naruto preferred to call them – did not exist in war times. Back then, the village earned its money with more hardened missions. Perhaps, the risk free missions, back then, was to deliver a scroll to another village. After the shock ceased, Team 10 got a respectable rate of two D-ranked missions per day. It was actually at Naruto's insistence, because Shikamaru was all in favor of not doing any missions. Naruto even convinced the Hokage into giving him a solo third D-ranked mission, after getting Asuma's approval. He argued that it would benefit his income some, considering that he no longer received any help.

In fact, one of his solo D-ranked missions was the reason he was in the state he was upon entering his apartment.

Apparently, a civilian wanted to test his fighting skills against a genin shinobi and Hiruzen saw no harm in giving it to Naruto, considering his taijutsu prowess corroborated by Asuma. Of course, Hiruzen failed to mention that the civilian was actually a retired samurai who abandoned the art of the sword in favor of focusing exclusively in taijutsu. The spar if Naruto could call it that lasted about an hour as the opponents traded equal blows with one another. The client of course had strength and experience whereas Naruto only had agility and the knowledge passed on by the Nidaime. Still, the client applauded the boy for his fighting prowess and promised that he would report so to the Hokage the next day.

For Naruto's experience, it was a boon. To his body, however…not so much.

"Man, I swear that guy has bones of steel. Well, I guess I can skip training tomorrow for a good night's sleep." That was the last sentence he spoke before he passed out on his bed.

* * *

**===The next day===**

* * *

Upon feeling the first rays of sunlight on his face, Naruto's eyes slowly opened up. Normally, he would be out of bed long before the sun came up. Come to think of it, this was perhaps the first day since he met with the Nidaime Hokage that he had overslept. The pain from yesterday was now a mere nuisance, the genin got out of bed and went about his morning routine as if he was on vacation. His team normally met in about two hours from now, so he could afford to take his time in getting ready. Unfortunately, his body was used to speeding this up, so it took no longer than twenty minutes for him to fulfill his usual routine. That meant that he had a lot of time to kill.

What to do, he wondered.

He was not a fan of taking leisure walks around the village, nor was he inclined to visit someone. Unfortunately, or fortunately in his mind, both his profession and his hobby were perfectly aligned. He had to keep training in the shinobi arts to improve his skills and rise in the ranks. But he did not mind it, far from it actually. Opening his closet, Naruto grabbed two small scrolls and opened them on his kitchen table, one on top of the other forming a cross. Performing a sequence of hand seals, both scrolls came alive, with kanji spreading over the table. Naruto bit his thumb to draw blood and went through hand seals before passing his bleeding thumb on the two scrolls, summoning a big blue scroll – Nidaime's legacy. Once opening the big scroll, Naruto scrolled down the taijustu, ninjutsu and genjutsu section, before going for the _other _arts, that Nidaimed dwelled on in his days, namely space-time ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu. There were lots of information about one technique called _Edo Tensei, _but Tobirama strangely wrote only how to release the technique, rather than how to perform it.

Naruto knew now that the Nidaime had a reason for everything he did. The description alone indicated that the technique allowed the user to summon the dead.

That was enough for the boy to steer clear.

Regarding space-time ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu, Tobirama had already briefed Naruto that it would take a long time before he would begin to understand the concept. The scroll explained that it would be preferable for Naruto to begin with fuuinjutsu first, which would allow him the adequate basis for space-time ninjutsu afterward. Tobirama's trademark ability, beyond his suiton capabilities, was the technique called _Hiraishin_, which according to the man, is a space-time ninjutsu used in conjunction with a fuuinjutsu formula. All these words caused nothing but headaches to the genin, but Tobirama never expected him to learn space-time ninjutsu at least before becoming a jounin. So far, the boy settled for learning beginner fuuinjutsu formulas. Storage seals and even explosion seals were amongst his range of knowledge for the moment and would certainly accompany him throughout the genin days. Tobirama spent some time tuning Naruto's calligraphy in one of their sessions together.

For the moment, he didn't have money to purchase scrolls. That would have to wait until he performed C-ranked missions.

Also, Tobirama instructed Naruto to spend some time in the library researching about the theory behind fuuinjutsu. Therefore, Naruto expected a few trips to the shinobi library after today's training. Looking at the clock, the boy sealed Tobirama's scroll and left his apartment. Choosing to simply walk towards the location, Naruto wondered about the road ahead of him, regarding the challenges and the expectations placed upon him by the very own Nidaime Hokage. It was one thing when said man was around to guide Naruto throughout the training, but now Naruto had to make due with the knowledge imparted on the scroll. _What if…_the thought stopped as soon as those words initiated and the boy couldn't help but shiver at the memory of Tobirama vividly explaining to him that thinking about the 'what ifs' was a complete waste of precious time.

The man always enjoyed using those water whips of his.

* * *

**===Training Ground===**

* * *

Arriving on time, Naruto walked straight to his sensei, who was calmly smoking his cigarette with an aloof smile on his face.

Ever since they became Team 10, Naruto's relationship with his second sensei slightly improved. The boy enjoyed their training sessions, even if he could not use his full arsenal of skills at the moment. In their spars, Naruto would use taijutsu and kenjutsu with a couple shurikenjutsu as well. Ninjutsu was limited to the usual three, however, much to his internal chagrin. Aside from constant spars with his sensei and his teammates, the latter always won by Naruto, their team got started on learning chakra control exercises. Asuma used this opportunity and passed the ball to Naruto. Since he had learned it, Asuma urged Naruto to teach the craft to Shikamaru and Hinata, showing the first signs of laziness in Naruto's book. Unsurprisingly so, Hinata got it right on her third try. The Hyuuga Clan were prodigious in their use of chakra. The Jyuuken required precision more than anything else.

Shikamaru was not bad, but he did test Naruto's patience by requiring three days to get to the top.

However, the Nara Clan were highly renowned for their intelligence, not their work ethic. His lazy teammate understood the concept the minute Naruto explained it.

When applying theory into practice, however, Shikamaru just did not bother to apply himself one hundred percent. As such, Naruto kept complaining the entire time, much to Hinata and Asuma's amusement. A couple more taijutsu drills were run, before the team would go to the mission room for those same old boring D-ranked missions. The boy could not complain much, considering that it was his main source of income, but sometimes he just wished to vent out his frustrations on the man who created these types of assignments. As per usual, the team grabbed their two D-ranked missions for the day and quickly took care of that.

Normally, Asuma would dismiss his team for the day, but today he had a different idea.

* * *

**===At the Barbeque Place===**

* * *

He gathered his team for a nice barbeque dinner for some much-needed conversation.

"Well, it's been four weeks since we started and I feel inclined to discuss a very important subject with all three of you. It is my job as your sensei to guide you and train you into becoming accomplished shinobi and kunoichi. However, that does not mean that I can simply choose what I believe is right for any one of you. You three have a great deal of different skills to choose from and it's important to consider them all so that you can choose just which type of shinobi you will be in the future. For example, I chose to focus in training my ninjutsu affinities and to develop a unique fighting style using my trench knives. While it was adamant that I learn other skills as a jounin, I have always stayed true to my choices as a shinobi."

All three genin nodded as the food arrived. Asuma continued his first lecture

"That being said, I understand that both Hinata and Shikamaru have clan techniques to fall back on, but that doesn't mean you cannot learn different skills. In fact, I believe it's prudent, considering that your clans are very well known throughout the elemental countries. The Hyuuga Clan are powerful, but more so up close-range fighting. Against a long-range fighter, the jyuuken is worthless. The shadow techniques of the Nara Clan are also known." Hinata and Shikamaru nodded solemnly, both knowing bits and pieces about their fellow clan members dying because of said weaknesses.

"Troublesome…I understand that sensei." Asuma showed an apologetic smile. The conversation was indeed important.

"So, I would like to hear you first, Shikamaru. As a Nara, your intellect is your must cunning weapon. Your chakra control has improved, as has your taijutsu. I'm betting your father is instructing you in clan techniques."

"_Mendokusee…_my clan jutsu have many uses and also a lot of different ways to use them. The enemy may know about them, but they can't know for sure what I will do. But then, I'm talking about enemies close to my level here." Asuma nodded at that. Shikamaru continued. "Like you said sensei, my mind is my most cunning weapon. So, I was thinking about skills to complement my clan jutsu, like genjutsu perhaps." Naruto remained quiet throughout the entire ordeal, savoring his meat instead. When he heard Shikamaru's choice, he couldn't help but applaud his choice. Who would have thought that the lazy ass would apply himself with such a demanding art. It required great chakra control, however, above his intellect. Asuma made a thinking noise after hearing the Nara.

"Genjutsu huh…an interesting choice. You can use your clan techniques as primary offense complemented by illusions. Not bad…I guess I can give you the basics and then perhaps ask a few favors from a specialist."

Asuma actually believed it would be better if Shikamaru went for offensive techniques, like taijutsu or even ninjutsu. Then, he flinched at the memory of a rather heated discussion he had with said specialist about the usage of genjutsu. "Okay…good…good, Hinata…how about you?" Upon receiving the spotlight of three set of eyes, the timid girl flinched a little bit, before rubbing her fingers together. Asuma frowned instantly at the display. He remembered his conversation with Kurenai about how Hyuuga Hiashi treated his eldest daughter and that her shyness was a direct byproduct of how she was raised, especially after Hinata's mother perished. She was improving her confidence gradually in training with Naruto and Shikamaru, though. Both boys realized and made every effort in helping her ever since.

"W...well, I was thinking about training in long-range skills, perhaps archery." She looked at both Naruto and Shikamaru for reassurance and relaxed upon seeing them smile and nod at her.

"Archery huh!? A fine idea, Hinata. With your byakugan, you could be quite lethal from a distance. Most impressive. If you want…I can accompany you for the necessary supplies so that you can practice. I am sure your teammates will aid you, especially Naruto. If you are able to hit him while he's moving…then you're good to go." Naruto was smiling at the timid girl, until that part. Asuma had an amusing expression on his face as he observed the quiet boy frowning at him.

"Oi, what do you think I am…a living target? I maybe fast, but I don't like the thought of being hit by her arrows on a daily basis you know." Hinata giggled at the display.

"This would be training for you too, in agility. With her byakugan, her precision will no doubt be top notch. Once the arrow flies from her bow, you will have little time to dodge." The man barked in laughter as Naruto mumbled incoherent cursing at him. "Oh come on, Naruto, don't be like that. I am sure that Hinata here won't target your vital organs, so you are safe. If she is able to hit you than that means that you're not fast enough, that's all." The grumbling never ceased.

"And to think I was beginning to like you sensei." Asuma laughed at the comment. He was enjoying this team…more than he thought he would.

"Okay…enough teasing. How about you Naruto?" Asuma asked the question, but from the inside, he was actually waiting for the answer in anticipation. The kid was gifted…way more than a seasoned genin. His chakra control was excellent…his ninjutsu and taijutsu prowess were outstanding. Asuma had a prodigy in his hand and Naruto could simply specialize in anything, he mused. Naruto, for his turn, had a clear choice in mind, but he also had side projects of his own and none of those would be revealed until later on. The boy allowed himself a small second of amused thinking, though. Answering that he would want to specialize in space-time ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu. Yeah, highly amusing would be his sensei's face.

"I would like to find out my ninjutsu affinity and master it." Asuma nodded with a smile…with his prowess in the battlefield, Asuma had no doubt that the boy will be a force to fear.

"Elemental ninjutsu you say!? That's quite advanced stuff…though with your chakra control, it's not impossible. Most shinobi takes a lot of time to learn an element."

"Say sensei…how can I learn my element?" Asuma was surprised at the sudden question. With time, the Hokage's suspicion lessened, but it was still there. Nonetheless, Asuma saw no point in not answering, considering that both Shikamaru and Hinata were also interested. He really wanted his students to learn ninjutsu to fall back on and this was the perfect opportunity to instill said knowledge in their brains. Who knows…maybe Hinata and Shikamaru would take an interest.

"There is a special paper to determine one's affinity. Actually, I happen to have it with me. Hinata and Shikamaru…do you also want to know about yours?"

"Depends on the amount of work I have to do…" Both Asuma and Hinata had giant water drops on the back of their heads. Naruto _almost_ molded chakra for the water whip after the comment.

"All you have to do is simply focus your chakra on this piece of paper. I prefer to explain the rest after I see the results. Hinata, you go first."

The Hyuuga nodded and closed her eyes while holding the paper in her hand. When she opened her eyes, she felt water in her hand. Asuma nodded, but said nothing urging the lazy genin up next.

Shikamaru's paper ignited and turned to ash. Naruto's paper split in two and both halves became moist.

Asuma hid his surprise at Naruto's result. His father would like to hear this.

"Okay, then, Hinata's affinity is towards water ninjutsu. Shikamaru has fire while Naruto, surprisingly so, has both wind and water affinities. Quite rare for a shinobi to have two affinities I must say." Naruto showed a surprised face, followed by a happy one, while Hinata complimented him. Asuma allowed for the genin to partake in conversation over their elements, while he pondered on what he had just discovered. His focus was on the Uzumaki enigma instantly. A jounin of his caliber had a lot of experience in knowing when someone is not telling the truth. Naruto's elation however at knowing about his elements struck him as quite odd, considering the Hokage's suspicion.

If someone was indeed tutoring the boy from the shadows, then no doubt Naruto would have already found his elemental affinity, considering his potential.

"So…Shikamaru wants to get genjutsu training…Hinata needs help with archery and Naruto with elemental ninjutsu. I will see if I can pull some strings for genjutsu training. The archery material, I believe, won't be hard to find. I guess that there are at least two or three stores in Konoha. As for you Naruto, I'm afraid I'll have to consult with the Hokage first about you learning elemental ninjutsu." The boy did frown, earning an amused smile from the sensei. "Elemental ninjutsu's mastery is as hard as it is dangerous, especially if unsupervised. I believe the Hokage will accept it, though, considering who your sensei is." Asuma could not help but inflate his chest in pride at that.

"What do you mean?" The boy felt his hopes of getting wind training draining by the second. He just did not consider that Asuma would need to run by the Hokage first.

"I'm considered one of the best wind users in all of Konoha and since you have an affinity for it, there is no one better suited to teach you."

"Wow…really…that's awesome sensei!" Hinata giggled at the amount of energy and excitement displayed by Naruto, of course, none the wiser. The boy could not get his hopes up, since the Hokage would have to approve first. However, if he managed to play his cards right, then he would be able to secure at least an adequate amount of training for his wind affinity. He already had water element training from the Nidaime. With this, at least in the ninjutsu department, he was all set.

Eventually, the team left the restaurant and split towards their respective homes or the Hokage's Office.

* * *

**===The Hokage's Office===**

* * *

"Hummmm…"

Asuma just stared at his father while the old man made humming noises, at the same time as he smoked his tobacco. Asuma wanted nothing more than to know his father's thoughts right away. He admitted into being quite enthused about the prospect of passing his craft to the boy. However, for that to happen, at least right now, he would need the Hokage's consent. In addition, there was the problem of how exactly the boy got so good and without apparent supervision. A slight vein pulsed from his forehead as he could see an amused smirk from his father.

"You know it irks me when you take this long to answer, right?"

"Yes…well, as per Naruto's situation, it's indeed quite rare for him to have two affinities, wind and water. Though I guess it's only natural that he had inherited it from his father and his mother. If I recall, Minato had wind and Kushina had water, though neither of them chose to venture on their affinities. Minato's style was more in fuuinjutsu and space-time ninjutsu, while Kushina preferred close-range fighting with her chakra chains. Asuma, what can you tell about his chakra paper?" Asuma frowned at the question, knowing all about what his father wanted to know. Indeed, the chakra paper allowed one to discover the elemental affinity. However, when a shinobi possesses a high affinity for an element, the paper behaves slightly different.

"His wind is the dominant affinity and quite strong one at that. His water element is not a weak affinity, though. Hinata's paper became moist, but the halves of his paper were soaked." Hiruzen caressed his chin.

"….Interesting…Naruto-kun's future gets brighter and brighter. And how he did react to the news?"

"He was excited…dare I say that he was clueless before, which struck me as odd considering the suspicion that someone is training him." Hiruzen nodded.

"Indeed, perhaps we can attribute his surprising growth to him simply applying himself harder. It pains me to consider the possibility that Naruto-kun was hiding from me, but I had to look at the situation from all possible perspectives." Hiruzen allowed himself some time to look down in shame over his actions. When the boy was not doing well in the academy, he wished that the boy would apply himself. In the end, he did apply himself but Hiruzen was caught wondering if someone did help him. In truth, all he did was believe that Naruto alone did not possess the necessary skills to grow as a shinobi. Well, the fact remained that Naruto did improve and he did it by proving everyone wrong…even Hiruzen himself.

"Ok, Asuma, I'll allow you to start his wind training, but only the theory and elemental control exercises for the moment." Asuma nodded and got up from the chair.

"Would I be wrong in assuming that you're no longer interested in investigating his situation further?" Hiruzen nodded with a resigned expression.

"Thus far, he has never demonstrated anything beyond exceptional skills in what was taught at the academy. The two chakra control exercises aside, his skills are centered in taijutsu, kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu. If someone else were in fact tutoring him, he would certainly possess a more varied arsenal of skills already. Yes, there is no reason for us to keep looking anymore, Asuma. I can tell that he will only grow as a shinobi and it's our duty to guide him."

"Good to know…because I'm enjoying my team more and more…it would be a shame to disrupt their growth, based on assumptions. See ya old man!" Asuma saluted him with a wave, before leaving in a shunshin.

Hiruzen, now alone, stood over Naruto's shinobi records, pondering.

If the boy showed as much prowess in the ninjutsu department as he had with taijutsu, then by all accounts, Naruto would be a prodigy. In the same path as Minato's son was Kakashi's student Uchiha Sasuke. Hiruzen was optimistic already for this new generation as all the clan heirs graduated. However, while all of the clan members showed promise in their family's respective abilities, Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones so far that displayed promise in overall skills. Naruto more so, considering that he had no one to assist him and still shown such promise. Right now, Sasuke had the slightest advantage, because his family taught the lad fire ninjutsu. However, that will change once Naruto gets the hang of his element. Hiruzen had no doubt in his mind about the boy's immense talent. As such, he knew that the boy would catch on very quickly…even something as advanced as wind manipulation.

* * *

**===The next day===**

* * *

The next day came and the team began their morning routine like usual. After two hours of practice and spars, Asuma gathered his three genins.

"Okay team, we'll now go to the Hokage for a mission. Now before we do that, I would like to follow up on our conversation last night. Starting with you Shikamaru. Since you are interest in learning genjutsu, I asked a favor from another jounin who's specialized in the field. For now, she believed it prudent to first learn the theory behind the art of illusions, so here you go." Asuma tossed a scroll for the pineapple-haired genin. "In that scroll, she detailed not only the basics, but also some chakra control exercises. Genjutsu requires great chakra control to perform, after all." Of course, Shikamaru would release a sigh in dismay thinking about the amount of work he would have to do.

"Man, is it too late to change my mind about this? I get the feeling it's going to be quite troublesome." Naruto snorted at that comment. It took him a lot of time and effort for him to be able to use genjutsu. Naruto also had the Nidaime to thank for, giving _input_ so to speak. Asuma, for his turn, just smirked at Shikamaru's comment, before moving on.

"Naruto, you wished to learn wind manipulation…so like Shikamaru, you'll start with the theory first and then we shall move to the practical exercises. It will take plenty of time for you to start learning techniques, but you have plenty of time for that." From the inside, Naruto groaned, but from the outside, he smiled and took the scroll. He opened up the scroll and started reading it right away, blocking his attention to the outside world. "Now with Hinata…before we go to the Hokage, we shall stop at a weapon's store to purchase a set of bow and some arrows for you to practice. So, let's move on shall we…" The team then left the training ground with Naruto half walked half focused on the scroll. Even if was just theory, it was quite vividly described. As the team walked, Asuma saw another jounin coming in front of him, actually doing the same thing as Naruto was doing…reading.

"Morning Kakashi…" As per the usual, the scarecrow jounin simply waved him off, not taking his eyes away from his precious novel, until he felt a blond head bumping into his stomach.

The jounin looked down from his book to see two blue eyes looking at him with a forgiving look on his face. Hatake Kakashi admitted that he interacted very little with his sensei's son. Well, very little was an understatement as the most they interacted was when Kakashi had to shadow the kid back in his Anbu days. Despite it all, he had heard stories of sensei's son from Asuma and from the Hokage at times. He could see from the kid's posture alone that the rumors were quite true. Asuma came up to him two days ago, stating how skilled Naruto was and that he wanted to measure his skills against one Uchiha Sasuke, the rookie of the year. At the time, Kakashi simply shrugged it off saying that he would think about it.

"Oh sorry about that jounin-san, I got carried away reading." Kakashi smiled with a nod at Naruto, before turning to Asuma.

"Well, Asuma, about what you requested, I believe we can arrange something. Now excuse me, but I am late to meet with my team." Shikamaru was the one who noticed the man's eye shifting to Naruto.

The bearded jounin nodded with a smile on his face. Kakashi would never change his tardiness. Still, Kakashi had a keen eye for potential and he definitely saw it in Naruto. Little to everyone's knowledge, Naruto also got to seize Kakashi briefly and now was looking at the man's leaving back. The Nidaime Hokage had imparted some sensing capabilities in his student. While not a born sensor, Tobirama taught him a couple of things by using your own chakra, so that Naruto can learn more about his enemy before the fight began. He did so with Asuma when they first met and now he did it with this guy Kakashi. While Asuma had more chakra capacity then Kakashi, Kakashi's chakra felt denser. His chakra coils are perhaps more developed than Asuma's.

"Asuma-sensei…what was it that this Kakashi said" Shikamaru asked, earning an amused laughter from his sensei.

"Oh that's nothing…just a silly bet between jounin. Now, let's keep moving." In no time, the team got inside a weapon's shop and waited for Hinata to purchase the needed material for her craft. Shikamaru spotted a chair placed by the counter and immediately took a relaxing seat while Asuma helped Hinata with her choices. The person who worked at the store was with them the entire time, allowing the remaining member of the team to roam around the store's many items. Usually, he would not bother to come inside without a decent looking _henge_. He noticed that when he personally came to purchase something, the vendor would overcharge him. However, when he simply came in as a brunette individual, no whisker marks and a chunnin vest, he even got discounts and promotions. Of course, he could simply go to the Hokage or his sensei to complain, but then he simply didn't want to bother himself with such nuisance.

In addition, it was good practice as most of these vendors had at least genin shinobi training. With everything taken care of, the team marched towards the Hokage Tower for their mission.

* * *

**===Mission Assignment Office===**

* * *

The Hokage chose this specific day to join the chunnin board responsible for the mission assignments. It was not required of him, but he did so in order to address his shinobi personally from time to time. This morning, a few of the genin teams had already came by and left with their assignments. The rookie squads, however, have yet to appear. He knew that Kakashi's team would be the last, but Asuma's and Kurenai's didn't usually take this long to show. He smiled, however, as soon as he heard footsteps approaching. It looked like Asuma's team came out in first today. The genin came in front with Asuma in tow as they lined up in front of the Hokage.

"Team 10 reporting for duty." Asuma proudly announced, earning a nod from the Hokage.

"Well, I was wondering when you'd appear Asuma-kun…your team usually comes much sooner. Ok, now Team 10, we have a long list of D-ranked missions here for you to choose." This was Naruto's queue to ignore the Hokage. Yes, he wanted nothing more than to complain right now to the old man about these so-called missions. Wastes of time, he considered them with the exception of the one he completed solo. An important part of the Nidaime's training was that, although Naruto trained extensively in mastering his skills in combat, he had minimal opportunities to really test himself. Sure, training with his team was nice and all, but he barely worked against his teammates and Asuma would never really push him. He needed opponents...he needed experience above all things. He stopped his wonderings when he heard the two D-ranked missions his sensei selected for the team.

"Oh and by the way…" Asuma said just as they were about to leave. "I believe that my team is ready for C-ranked missions." This took his team by surprise, even Naruto. Umino Iruka looked perturbed.

"Are they now...hmmm. Well, perhaps tomorrow, we can choose one." Asuma nodded, before leaving the Hokage alone with his two chunnin in attendance.

"Hokage-sama, is it really wise to send them on C-ranked missions so soon? They graduated last month." The Hokage smiled as he turned to his trusted chunnin.

"While it's true that they lack experience, it is also true that these three are quite gifted genin. Shikamaru is quite the genius and strategist of the team and Hyuuga Hinata has a solid grasp on her byakugan. Last but certainly not least, Naruto-kun is perhaps the most gifted genin of his generation. According to my son's reports, Naruto ranked very high in pretty much all there is for a fresh genin to know. I am sure that he will reach great heights in his career. That's precisely why I have allowed them to participate in C-ranked missions. Naruto-kun is skilled, but like you said, he lacks experience. You can only improve yourself by facing adversities and coming out on top." Iruka almost felt ashamed after the lecture, but his worry remained.

"I know that they are gifted, but I can't help but feel it's too soon for them."

The Hokage only smirked at the man. He had chosen wisely in placing Iruka at the academy.

"That goes to show how much you care for your students Iruka. However, it is now time for them to venture outside the confines of our great walls and meet the world outside. Do not worry, though, I don't plan to send them alone. Team 10 was polite enough about D-ranked missions. Nevertheless, it was quite clear in Naruto's visage that he greatly dislikes the subject. The other teams, however, will be more vocal about it, demanding a C-rank." Iruka sighed at being defeated. He knew that Inuzuka Kiba would explode any day now and Uchiha Sasuke as well, demanding tougher assignments. Sometimes, he just wished to place some sense into the jounin's heads for risking his students' lives needlessly.

"You plan to send two teams then?" The Hokage nodded, greatly pleased by this young man's intellect.

"Yes, though I will defer to Kakashi's judgment beforehand." He had a feeling that Kurenai, being a rookie jounin, will be more cautious about taking a C-ranked mission and Kakashi had already talked to him about choosing a more practical approach to his teachings then simply drilling theoretical subjects to his genin. While Hiruzen did not believe in its efficiency, it was still a valid method of teaching and has produced fine results. If memory served him correctly, the Yondaime Hokage opted for this very approach on his own team.

* * *

**===The next day===**

* * *

The next day, as expected, both teams stood by the Hokage at the Mission Office.

"Well, since both Asuma and Kakashi considered their teams ready for a C-ranked mission, I have decided to accept their suggestion." Each team had their own reactions to the news. Inuzuka Kiba looked at Sasuke and both shared a smile in determination. Sakura looked like she was scared, but tried desperately to hide it. Naruto could see that she took a small step closer to Sasuke, to which he turned his eyes in secret irritation. Shikamaru simply muttered his famous word while Hinata was clearly in doubt of herself, though she smiled when Naruto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her confidence issues sure diminished, but it would take time to vanish completely.

After allowing some time, Hiruzen continued.

"However, instead of issuing a mission to each of the teams, I have decided to send both Teams on a single C-ranked mission…" The Hokage was about to continue when Kiba voiced his protest.

"Hey…we don't need these pansies…they will just be slowing us down…" The Inuzuka heir was wise enough in suddenly shutting his trap when the Hokage looked sternly at him followed by a small increase in chakra. Kakashi sighed at his student's outburst and apologized to the Hokage on behalf of the Inuzuka. Of course, not before bonking the fiery kid in the head for his behavior in front of the Hokage. Naruto, for his turn, kept quiet and in awe at the quick but direct method utilized by the Sandaime to instill order. In a way, it reminded him of the Nidaime Hokage when Naruto acted similarly to Kiba just now. Still, Kiba was lucky. Tobirama had no qualms about getting physical and by physical, he meant water whips. There was one time the man even used a water bullet on him, an incident that Naruto still painfully remembered to this day. It was the day he learned _never_ to piss a Kage off.

"Now, as I was saying, I will send both Teams on this C-ranked mission. It consists of protecting a civilian from thieves and bandits as he travels back to his homeland, in Wave Country. Tazuna, please come in."

From the door, came in an old man holding an alcohol canteen. Tazuna was a grey-haired bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head. Kiba had to block his nose at the heavy smell of alcohol that came from this man. Tazuna looked at the two teams with heavy scrutiny and frowned at what he saw.

"What is the meaning of this Hokage? I hired shinobi to protect me, not small children barely off their diapers. That blond shrimp over there…you can't possibly convince me he's a shinobi."

Naruto heard snickers obviously coming from Kiba. While his height wasn't saying much, the old man, their client, was pushing. Now, Naruto could think of many things to do in order to _prove _that he is a shinobi. Of course, many of the possibilities included skills that he just could not reveal yet. That said; he had settled for something more subtle. With a slight flick of his wrist, earning narrowed eyes from those who managed to follow his movements, a kunai traveled fast to the canteen that the client was holding. In less than a second, the kunai went straight through the canteen, splashing all the alcohol at the old man's instantly sobered expression. Kiba had the decency to fall on his butt on the floor as the kunai passed mere inches from his nose. Sasuke looked at the blond in alarm, not remembering him being that good before. Shikamaru, for his turn, simply sighed in dismay while Hinata covered her mouth in surprise. Apparently, Naruto didn't like being bullied based on appearance alone.

"It matters little whether you believe I'm a shinobi or not…in the end, all it takes is that kunai going straight at your neck."

Asuma simply scratched his head in embarrassment for his genin.

"Ah Naruto, we can't attack the clients you know…" He was used to seeing such speeds in their spars, unlike Kakashi and the Hokage who bore first witness to the kid's skill. Naruto settled for a smirk, but bowed towards the client.

"My apologies for attacking you Tazuna-san, I just felt the need to convince you that I'm more than ready to protect you against thieves and bandits." The client hesitantly nodded, though he felt like the kid was placing a knife inches from his neck. The Hokage, taking control of the situation, cleared his throat and addressed the two teams.

"Ok moving on, this is a C-ranked mission consisting of protecting Tazuna throughout his travel back to Wave Country. The mission will commence tomorrow, dismissed all of you." Hiruzen felt the need to talk to Naruto, but he figured that Asuma could do it for him. The way Naruto threw that kunai, however, got the Hokage thinking. He would expect such mastery coming from a high-level chunnin or even a jounin, not from someone who recently graduated. Naruto told him some time ago that he did nothing but train and study all day after the academy. Considering what he had just seen, it very well looked like his training bore excellent fruit. Hiruzen quickly activated his all-seeing ball for what was about to happen.

* * *

**===With the teams===**

* * *

Everyone found it strange that, after leaving the Hokage's Office, the jounin ushered both teams to follow them towards a more secluded training ground.

After arriving at the training ground, Asuma announced their intentions, as he knew that Kakashi was far too lazy.

"Ok, I'm betting you all are wondering why Kakashi and I decided to join you six together. Tomorrow all of you will embark on a C-ranked mission. Not only that, but you will also be performing missions with someone you know next to nothing about. In time, you all will participate in missions with other shinobi, so it is imperative you learn how to work well with others aside from your genin team. Now, we shall use today in order for each team to get to know the other. With that said, we shall start with individual spars and then move on to team drills." Asuma ignored Shikamaru's complaint and Kiba's narcissistic boost of confidence. "We shall start with the individual spars…Hinata will be first against Sakura…then Shikamaru against Kiba and last Naruto against Sasuke. Kakashi and I will monitor the fights, so nothing too extreme as we have an important mission tomorrow."

As Hinata and Sakura moved to the center of the clearing, the rest gave them space. Sasuke, however, kept looking at Naruto the entire time.

"Ok, Hinata and Sakura….are you ready?" Asuma started the fight.

As soon as the spar initiated, Sakura took the offense. She remembered how timid and shy Hinata was at the academy and knew that she had a shot to show to Sasuke how great she was. However, while Hinata never enjoyed going on the offensive in fights, it did not belittle her skills in taijutsu. Sakura run a frontal line and attempted to side step in order to attack Hinata from the left. With great finesse and style, Hinata simply evaded Sakura's rather slow assault and took opportunity of the opening in Sakura's unprotected right side. A heavy palm laced with chakra and Sakura flinched in pain, not knowing that Hinata had just closed her tenketsu. Sakura tried to stand and give more of a fight, but she just could not control her chakra, in order to use the academy three ninjutsu she knew. Another frail attempt at taijutu failed, with Hinata hitting the stomach this time, thus ending the spar rather quickly.

"A…are you ok Sakura?" Hinata opened her tenketsu and got her up, earning a pained smile from Sakura.

"Wow, you're really strong Hinata…" The Hyuuga blushed at the praise, while Naruto looked ready to go bloody murder on the pink haired girl. He would imagine that she would show more after one month.

"Alright, now is my turn…prepare to lose Shikamaru." Kiba and Shikamaru stood now face to face with each other. Kiba looked smug, while Shikamaru couldn't look more bored as he grabbed a kunai and held it. Naruto could not help but smile at Kiba's clueless smirk. The jounin also noticed it, but Kakashi simply chose to read his book to save him embarrassment. With an amused smile, Asuma announced the beginning of the fight. Kiba, still smiling like an idiot, prepared to attack…only to realize that he just couldn't move his body. Not even Akamaru could move, considering that the little puppy was also caught in the same technique. The Inuzuka remained baffled and snarled at the Nara.

"What did you do to me bastard?" Shikamaru only sighed in dismay. He didn't feel like explaining much.

"Why don't you look down and tell me what happened." Kiba did as instructed and indeed saw that his shadow was connected to Shikamaru's. Suddenly, Shikamaru extended the arm that he was holding the kunai, forcing Kiba to do the same, except that his hand was holding nothing of the sort. A couple of steps later, Shikamaru stopped walking. The kunai stopped inches from Kiba's chest and would keep coming. The Inuzuka snarled at losing, but conceded. Kakashi felt the need to explain to his clueless student.

"The Nara Clan specializes in manipulating their shadow. It has many uses; one of them involves binding the opponent by capturing your shadow." Kiba listened to his sensei speak while Naruto and Sasuke got into position against each other. The rest already gave the boys some room. In Sakura and Kiba's mind, Naruto would no doubt lose. He may have shown improvement in school but he had graduated in the middle of the class, while Sasuke was the top student. Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Hinata doubted that Naruto showed his best at the academy, merely showing enough to graduate. It was not to say that Naruto was stronger than Sasuke, only that one could not base Naruto's skills according to his display up until one month ago. Kakashi and Asuma stood side by side as they silently conversed with one another. The first two fights were indeed for the teams to know each other, but this last fight was actually a bet formed between them as to whom was the strongest genin of this year.

Sasuke, meanwhile, looked at his opponent and remembered how fast he moved back at the Hokage's Office. It'd been a month since he last saw Naruto fight and back then, it was completely different. Sasuke Uchiha's blood pumped inside his veins and he felt excitement over the upcoming battle. If he improved this much, then Sasuke may have found a worthy adversary to test his skills against. Kiba was 'ok' in the taijutsu department, but the Inuzuka just could not offer Sasuke more than a few minutes of a fair fight. Naruto, for his turn, looked at Sasuke while remembering what the Nidaime said about the Uchiha Clan. Even if Tobirama focused more on the sharingan, he did share some intel on their way of thinking and how they behave in the battlefield. Their taijutsu style focused mainly in anticipating the opponent's movements. Even without the sharingan, the Uchiha had trained their eyes and body to adapt according to the enemy. That being said, it will always appear that an Uchiha is faster than he actually is. Aside from that, though, Naruto saw this as an amazing opportunity to gain experience.

Asuma took a couple steps further and announced the beginning of the fight.

Naruto went on the offensive immediately, hurling a group of shuriken at impressive speeds. Sasuke reacted instinctively, not much expecting a long-range assault in a spar. He evaded the projectiles and charged at the Uzumaki, using chakra to increase his speed. He was within Naruto's guard in less than two seconds, before aiming a brutal punch at Naruto's face. Naruto, for his turn, quickly turned his body and redirected Sauske's punch with his arm. He followed up with a side-kick, but Sasuke managed to evade by keeping his momentum. Using the blond's own move, Sasuke quickly grabbed a couple of shuriken and threw them at Naruto. From such close proximity, the shuriken were unavoidable, piercing his arm and stomach. Naruto flinched in pain for a second, before smiling as smoke surrounded him. Sasuke, instead, pierced a log instead.

Naruto came from his behind, but he was not alone. By his side, five bunshins mirrored his every move. Sasuke quickly threw shuriken at them, dispelling the bunshins. However, since they were too close, Sasuke could not avoid a direct punch to the stomach by the real Naruto. The sound of the impact made everyone in the vicinity wince as Sasuke lost his entire breathing capability for a short period. He had to move quickly as Naruto was not done. Jumping back a few times, he managed to create a distance to breathe again. He had never taken a hit that strong before and the way Naruto moved was a lot more coordinated and precise than back at the academy. Getting a new resolve, the Uchiha charged once more and started a close-range fight with Naruto, neither showing dominance over the other. Their movements were fast…faster than genin-level easily.

The spectators – at least the genin – were surprised or in Kiba's case, speechless. He could barely follow those movements. Sakura simply stopped trying altogether.

"Indeed, Naruto is quite skilled as you said Asuma." The bearded jounin smiled while lighting up a cigarette.

"So is Sasuke, but Naruto normally moves faster. Remember that he has complete mastery of his chakra, but so far he is not using it to fight Sasuke."

Kakashi looked at Asuma from the corner of his eyes and focused on his old sensei's son and indeed Asuma was right. Back to the fight, Sasuke found that, at each passing second, that Naruto was slowly but surely increasing his pace as well as the strength behind the blows. To compensate, Sasuke focused more chakra into his limbs, but he could feel his capacity diminishing, whereas Naruto barely looked fazed. One aspect of the Uchiha's rules of combat is observation. Sasuke had to be observant in order to capture the miniscule details during a fight. That was why he was surprised upon seeing Naruto's facial expression during their fight. Usually, he appeared more carefree as if the entire world couldn't faze him. Now, though, it was the complete opposite. He looked completely and utterly focused on the battle. His eyes locked onto Sasuke's body movement.

Sasuke flinched when Naruto's kick came up too fast for him to evade, forcing Sasuke to block it with his arms. The power behind the strike was too much for his arm to handle. Naruto wasn't deterred and quickly flipped to Sasuke's exposed side, stopping his sword inches from piercing Sasuke's kidney. Even if this was just a spar, this was the first time, since that fateful day, that Sasuke had felt like he was going to die. Surely, had Naruto been an enemy, he would be. It was a clean victory from Naruto, according to Asuma. Naruto had already displayed such tenacity while fighting him, so he was not surprised. The others however could only gawk at the display. Kiba felt so out of place right now and couldn't come with a proper retort.

"Congratulations Sasuke, it seems you managed to awaken it." Both Kakashi and Sasuke were greatly surprised at what Naruto just said. The blond smiled and placed his sword in front of Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke gasped upon seeing that his eyes were now red with a single tome in each eye. One fight with this guy and Sasuke already activated his sharingan. Granted that Sasuke had yet to use any ninjutsu, but from what he had witnessed, Naruto would not be fazed by the techniques he knew. Right now, his Uchiha blood was pumping like crazy and his heart beating faster than ever. He vowed to kill his brother and Naruto will be the one to aid him in reaching Itachi's level.

* * *

**Author Note**

* * *

Wow…right?! I have always planned on them having this rivalry so that Naruto had enough experience. Even if limited to just academy-taught skills for the moment, he needs to constantly fight others in order to improve himself. Who better than Sasuke for the role of his rival? As you saw, my plan is to slowly show his skills to the public. He already began to learn wind manipulation from Asuma and it won't take long until he can show a technique or two. Now, it is time for the Wave Mission.

Please review.


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